I Am The Protagonist
by Genesis Coffee
Summary: Clicking on an ad by accident, Naruto is brought to a landing page detailing an experience far too unbelievable to be anything other than a game…only to find that it applies to real life. Affection is quantifiable, achievements give perks, actions earn money, and he can use it all to pick up girls… He will do his best to advance the PLOT. Smart!Strong! Naruto/Harem AU
1. Chapter 1: The Tutorial

**Warning:** _This chapter and subsequent story is to be rated accordingly for language, suggestive themes, violence, and potential gore. If at some point I do decide to incorporate lemons they shall likely be in their own separate story instead in order to not hinder the viewing pleasure of others, or I will give fair warning to their inclusion in a chapter, the romance and subsequent relationships though will still remain in the story…_

 **Official Disclaimer:** _I do not own Naruto, Highschool DxD or any referenced or related works in that may appear in this story. If there ever is an OC inclusion in this or any of my stories, the resemblance of a name and/or physical appearance to anyone living or deceased is completely coincidental._ _ _All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the sole property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author._ The right of any pictures or art I will ever use go to their respective owners, if said artist would like the picture removed from my profile or story, for that is where it would most likely be, please say so instead of jumping to conclusions of infringement. __No copyright infringement is intended._

 _The cover image used for this story is an edited version of an image that I believe belongs to the pixiv artist_ **togo (pixiv6587511)** depicting Sakura Futaba (Persona 5) _. I don't intend to take credit for said artist's artwork and the rights to it belong solely to said artist. I make no profit from this story._

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Chapter I

* * *

 **Tutorial**

 **-x-**

Naruto Uzumaki, son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Uzumaki was what could be regarded as… a closet pervert.

Similar to his once best friend Issei Hyoudou he was exposed to things such as sex and the like at a young age by a wandering perverted old man that used to preach about the magnificence of breasts. The old man apparently wrote porn books in his spare time so his accountings and descriptions were quite detailed.

Issei took to it like a fish out of water as he was corrupted to the point where he developed a fixated obsession with breasts himself.

Naruto on the other hand while also having developed an early interest in the opposite gender and sex in general was a bit more reasonable with his desires and held them close rather than shouting them out to the heavens like Issei.

This however eventually led to a gap to develop between the two. Sure they were both perverts and got along for the most part, but the way they handled their desires was far too different. While for Naruto this was simply a thing he did on the side until he got a girlfriend to satisfy all his sexual urges, Issei made perversion a way of life. With Issei being the open pervert that he was it often resulted in getting into troublesome situations and oftentimes Naruto had found himself guilty by association when caught around him.

Personally Naruto didn't care much about his public image, but when the problem at hand is something along the lines as the entire female kendo club chasing after you with bokken there's definitely a problem. Eventually they ended up drifting apart and Issei made new friends with two other open perverts like him, Matsuda and Motohama. Naruto had tried telling Issei that the two were no good, but Issei dismissed his concerns as him overthinking things.

Anyways currently Naruto was looking at his computer with a troubled expression, his previous sexual desires having been set aside for now as he read the message in front of him. Previously he had been looking through an adult site when he had accidentally clicked on an ad or something and gotten an advertisement for a game. Now usually he would have simply closed off the ad and been done with it, but the game had drawn his eye.

Basically it was about how you could play as the main protagonist of what amounted to an h-game. It detailed an organized menu and leveling system, dating elements, scene and scenario unlocks, and even a state of the art UI. It was a bit concerning that it didn't have recommended system specs for the game, but after a moment's thought he decided to wing it and give it a shot as it was free. If he didn't like it he could just uninstall it.

Clicking on the confirmation page he was taken to what appeared to be a registration page. Already having done similar things for other games he quickly filled it out and used the spare e-mail that he had on hand for sites like this and he was set.

Maybe it was browser based.

Just as he was thinking that, a bright light suddenly flashed across his vision momentarily disorienting him before he saw the screen fade to black and a strange looking red magical array appeared on the screen.

Upon seeing the strange array that looked like a portal to hell he frowned.

'Fucking malware'

He tried to press **Esc** , nothing happened. He tried hitting the home button, still no reaction. Glaring at his monitor he moved his hands towards the keyboard as he prepared his ultimate move…

 **Ctrl-Alt-Delete**

The spinning demonic red circle was still in place.

"Fuck"

He thought his antivirus was pretty good, but apparently either this little monster was even better or it was custom made.

'Good thing I keep all my stuff backed up just in case'

Just as he was about to unplug the computer, the array faded and another light flashed across his vision. His computer returned to normal, but now he was far more shocked than when he thought his computer was being raped by a virus. Because currently floating before his very eyes was what could only be described as his stats.

 **Naruto Uzumaki – The Protagonist**

 **Strength – 10**

 **Perception – 10**

 **Endurance – 10**

 **Charisma – 20**

 **Intellect – 10**

 **Agility – 10**

 **Luck – 8**

 **Love Points 0**

 **Affection 100**

 **Monie 0**

 **Achievements Unlocked – 0 (Unlock at least one achievement to open the trophy viewer)**

 **Perks:  
** **Hentai/Perverted Protag**

 **Divine Vision**

 **Sexual Healing**

 **Sexual Strengthening**

 **Sexual Stamina**

 **Constitutional Fortitude - Immune to Illusions**

 **Mental Fortitude - Immune to Mind Control**

 **Spiritual Fortitude - Immune to Spirit Attacks**

 **Greater Demon Container (Sealed)**

"What. The. Fuck?"

He had a stat menu, he actually had stats just like a game. What the hell was going on?

 **Mission 1 – Tutorial**

 _ **Learn how to navigate the main menu and how to employ our unique leveling system.**_

 _ **Learn about perks.**_

 _ **Learn about achievements.**_

 _ **Learn the difference between scene scenario and scene unlock.**_

 _ **Learn about the affection store.**_

 _ **Learn about monie.**_

 **Rewards:**

 **1000 Monie upon completion**

 **2 love points**

 **400 affection**

He continued to look at the mission screen for a second longer before closing his eyes taking a deep breath and calmed himself down. He was just tired and was hallucinating because of lack of sleep, if he simply closed his eyes and went to bed…

He could still see it when he closed his eyes.

"What the fuck!? I mean what the actual fuck is going on!" he shouted in alarm as panic settled in

The text followed his vision and even if he closed his eyes he could still see it – floating there in the dark. It was like it was imprinted straight into his brain.

'Magic is it magic!? I'm sure no computer virus can do something like this…maybe that weird looking circle from before cast a spell on me. Yeah that's it, it's a spell. Hahaha…' He thought to himself as he laughed aloud looking the very picture of madness.

Slapping himself he found it to still be calmly floating before him, utterly unmoved from his sudden doubt of reality.

"Okay, I just need to calm down. I'm pretty sure I read a manga or light novel with a similar premise as this, this tutorial thingy might explain what's going on so all I need to do is play along for now." Naruto convinced himself before looking at the mission screen with an odd expression.

He continued to stare in silence as he got his thoughts in order.

So far he knew that it had something to do with the game and that his current predicament was related to that weird magical circle that appeared. Either way his stat menu was interesting, particularly the listed perks Hentai Protag and Divine Vision. Could those two in particular explain his current situation?

Maybe that hentai protag perk was what set all this off and that divine vision thingy was what allowed him to see things like the **menu**. Or maybe the hentai protag perk was also responsible for being able to see the **menu** and divine vision was something else.

Quickly he found himself calming down as he went about looking over things as if it really was set up like a game. In the end he decided to do as stated and start up the tutorial.

For a second he didn't know how he would go about accepting the mission before a prompt appeared.

 **To utilize the menu system verbal or telepathic commands are required for input unless an accessory device is in use. Verbal commands are recommended while in the midst of battle while telepathic commands are recommended otherwise in order to not attract attention.**

He was startled, he had barely contemplated how to accept the mission before this message prompt popped up. It seemed to have read his thoughts, maybe that's what it meant by telepathic?

With newfound eagerness and steadily growing anticipation he decided to test out his theory…

 **Mission 1 – Accepted**

"That is so cooool~!" Naruto cheered with a megawatt grin on his face, at first he was too busy freaking out to properly appreciate the situation but now that he thought about it, it was insanely cool. It was like his life was suddenly turned into a game and given one of his perks was Hentai Protag it was sure to be interesting.

"It's like getting a superpower" he thought to himself just as he noticed a checkmark appear next to the point in mission asking him to learn how to navigate the main menu.

Truly into it now he wanted to figure out to properly work with his new ability.

"Let me see the second point is… **leveling system**."

Just as he said it a new message prompt appeared as he was once more taken to the stat menu.

 **Our unique leveling system does not work on the basis of fixed stats per level increase, rather upon acquiring a certain amount of affection or completing a scenario, mission, or milestone you can be rewarded love points proportionate to the difficulty of the completed task. Be forewarned that love points while obtainable from receiving affection is randomized and is dependent on the luck stat for if it will drop or not when receiving affection. Larger amounts of affection also increase the chance of receiving a love point.**

Naruto frowned, the message was through but a very important point was currently eluding him. What the hell were **affection** and **love points**?

 **Affection is used to make purchases in the Affection Store and allows you to increase the different facets of your** _ **Charm**_ **. Affection is earned from engaging in positive and meaningful interactions with others. Affection is derived from the goodwill others hold for you. Hurtful or cruel actions can make your affection level decrease. While you can derive affection from someone keeping you close to their hearts – you earn more through direct interaction with others.**

 **During romantic interactions you may see the affection multiplier appear, keep your partner in a good mood and the multiplier will increase as will the amount of affection derived from interacting with them. Be warned however the combo multiplier will reset if you perform an unwanted action or say something off hand. It is recommended if you want to learn more about affection to initiate an interaction with someone in order to experience affection first hand.**

Well affection seemed pretty straight forward minus that bit about there being a combo multiplier for it, rather for him love points seemed a lot vaguer as they seemed to be specific to his ability.

 **Love points are necessary for increasing your stats. Love points can be earned through missions, scenarios, and through milestones. Love points have a chance of being awarded upon receiving affection.**

Love points increased stats. Now that might seem simple if it were in regards to a game, but considering they were talking about the real world that meant it would apply to him directly. This opened an entirely new dimension to his new ability, couldn't he potentially have super strength if he increased his **strength** enough? How would an increase in **intellect** affect him? Would he be smarter or would it be easier to understand information if he increased that stat? Instantly getting love points shot to the top of his to do list.

Seeing a checkmark appear next to learning about the leveling system he decided to go through the other points promptly in order to get the affection and love points that he would receive upon completing the mission.

'Perks'

 **Perks are skill based abilities that can be acquired through achieving a particular milestone (achievement) or through completing a certain event that fundamentally changes you as a person. Perks have various different effects and benefits. Caution – there are some perks that also have negative effects such as becoming exceptionally strong during the night only to become weaker during the daytime.**

Pretty straightforward and not too unlike other games he had played before. He supposed that most of those immunity and sexual perks came from being the hentai protag and gaining this game like ability. Though that grayed out **Greater Demon Container (Sealed)** was a bit disconcerting.

'Achievements'

 **Achievements or Milestones is an action or event marking a significant change or stage in your development. These usually award possible scene and scenario unlocks, love points, monie, and depending on the circumstances large amounts of affection. It also has a chance of unlocking new items in the affection shop. Perks also have a chance of being awarded from achieving certain pivotal milestones in your development. Be warned that certain milestones award direct stat points rather than love points.**

"Ohhh~"

He had thought love points were amazing but achievements were even more so. From them he could get love points, affection, and even perks. There were a few terms in there that he wasn't familiar yet, but he knew enough to know that achievements were a very good thing to get. Another check mark appeared.

'Scene and Scenario unlock'

A different menu came up, on it was multiple grayed out boxes with empty labels.

 **This is the scenario page, in it you can follow the events that have occurred in a given scenario and purchase new scenarios. Scenarios are stories or plotlines following a series of multiple events, they cannot be performed more than once per instance and offer decent rewards per chapter completion and a large reward at the conclusion along with an achievement milestone.**

It was a quest. That might be called a scenario but it was definitely what amounted to a quest.

Another menu came up, this one having a single box with a label under it near the top followed by numerous other grayed out boxes below it. It looked like a gallery page.

 **This is the scene page, in it you can view the scenes related to a particular location or person. For a location the scenes unlocked is dependent on the action performed there, be it a fight or a date. It has the ability to provide boosts if you have the scene unlocked prior to performing an action there. For instance you are having a fight in a park you have unlocked the initial scene for, you have a chance to unlock a new scene by fighting in the park and also will receive a buff while in the area.**

 **On the other hand when a scene relates to a person it is dependent on your relationship with them. You can unlock new scenes with them by advancing your relationship with the other person. From a scene detailing a date at a coffee shop, to having a sexual interaction with said person. You have the option to relive those scenes by simply selecting them and if your affection with that person is high enough at the time you will initiate the instance.**

 **Also be aware you can view unlocked scenes on any digital device you own, however it is set up so that if anyone other than you tries to see them they will only see a video clip of kittens at play.**

'That's almost adorable, however I better be careful in the future if I ever am looking at a scene with a sexual scenario on it and get 'excited', others will only see me getting hard over a bunch of cute little kittens playing around. That just doesn't look good.'

Another checkmark appeared and he grew excited seeing there was only two more left to go before he got his reward.

'Affection store'

The menu changed to a shop setting, it having a mature seductive feeling to it. It kind of reminded him of an adult site with all the pink and black everywhere to be honest. Looking over the inventory he knew that first impressions were often all that one needed.

For instance the first thing he saw was a butt plug tail – it all went downhill from there. Half the inventory sold items that looked like they were out of an adult store and the rest seemed to strike a middle ground between conventional and romantic. Most of the items seemed geared around getting girls or having sex with them, even the clothing menu that actually had stuff for guys seemed to grant specific boosts for picking up girls or going on dates.

I mean for god's sake, there were socks that increased your sex drive! What the fuck!?

'There's an entire section dedicated to BDSM and S&M. Not only that there are items that can cater to almost every fetish, you can make a girl an anthro and even chose what animal to splice her with. I am both amazed and scared of the implications.' He thought as he continued sifting through all the stuff available.

Amidst all the weird stuff there were some really fascinating little items that seemed really cool, like a water gun that dissolved clothes and glasses that could see in the dark. He just needed to keep away from some of the fetishes in the affection store and he would be golden.

Just about everything but male clothes was currently grayed out though…

The currency it required however was what surprised him, he had assumed that the **monie** that had been mentioned thus far would come into play at this point but the affection store only accepted affection as the main currency. That was weird, if affection was the main currency them what was monie used for?

As a gift for visiting the shop for the first time he was given five mints that increased his charm by 2 for 60 minutes. A checkmark appeared next to the point concerning the affection shop and he was more than eager to inquire about the next point and get his prize.

'Monie'

The menu changed to something that he hadn't even heard be mentioned so far. The Conversion Shop.

 **Monie is a currency unique to you. Its main use is to be taken to the conversion shop and exchanged for another currency. As it is you can convert it into two different currencies; affection and Yen.**

 **The unit conversions are as follows;**

 **100 monie = 10 affection**

 **100 monie = 1000 yen**

 **It remains the same regardless of differences in quantity. Though there are limits to how much monie you may convert to real world money at any given day, there are no such limits for converting monie into affection.**

 **Be warned that yen can't be changed into monie and neither can affection. Also once monie is changed into any of the other two unlocked currencies you won't be able to change it back.**

"For real!? You mean I can make real money out of simply playing along and completing missions and shit? Seriously!?" Naruto shouted aloud in surprise

If that was the case this changed everything, as that meant he could actually live out of simply completing missions and earning achievements and the like. I mean this tutorial took him what? 5-7 minutes? Yet he was going to get 1000 monie! That was 10000 yen in less than an hour!

His excitement only grew at the message that appeared afterwards.

 **Mission 1 Completed!**

 **Awards:**

 **+1000 monie**

 **+2 love points**

 **+400 affection**

 **First mission completed – Milestone achieved**

 **Award:**

 **Scenario Unlocked – The Darkest Night**

 **1 achievement earned – Trophy Viewer has been unlocked**

Not only had he gotten his reward but he had also achieved a milestone achievement and unlocked a scenario!

He looked towards his stat menu only to find that while affection and monie had promptly appeared in his stats, love points had yet to be distributed.

 **Naruto Uzumaki – The Protagonist**

 **Strength – 10**

 **Intellect – 10**

 **Agility – 10**

 **Perception – 10**

 **Charisma – 20**

 **Endurance – 10**

 **Luck – 8**

 **Plot Armor 0/100**

 **Love Points 2 (+2)**

 **Affection 500 (+400)**

 **Monie 1000 (+1000)**

 **Achievements Unlocked – 1 (+1)**

He wanted to check out that scenario that he had unlocked as well as the new trophy viewer but he decided to prioritize and allot his love points in his stat column. After a brief thought over the matter he ultimately used the two stat points to square out his luck as that single digit number was bothering him. Also from the explanation higher luck would allow for an increased chance of him receiving a love point through affection. That and he knew that a little luck could go a long way in life. I mean who hadn't ever wished they could increase their luck?

At first he had thought about increasing strength or intellect simply to hopefully receive what he imagined were immediate and tangible benefits but he refrained from doing so. He wasn't going to be fighting anyone and intellect wasn't a pressing concern as he was by no means lacking in that aspect to begin with. So with that intellect and strength were put on hold and agility, perception, and endurance were also deemed unimportant given the situation as he had no real need for any of them, as again he wasn't fighting monsters here but going to school.

In reality when all the fantasy was trimmed away what he needed most was charisma, intellect, and luck. Strength and the other three **survival** stats could be useful to a degree but not as much as those three would be to someone like him who didn't live during the warring states period. Though the idea of increasing his endurance until he was invincible was tempting he could not see any real world applications for it beyond living through getting run over by a truck. He wasn't keen to become some sort of superhero after all.

Charm was his highest stat at double his average of 10, he supposed it likely had something to do with the hentai protag perk again as he never imagined himself to be twice as charming as an average man. Either way as his highest stat he felt no real urge to increase it further, especially since he had those mints he had gotten from the store that would temporarily increase his charisma by 2 for 60 minutes if he needed it.

Intellect like he said before while potentially useful wasn't a pressing concern.

Luck however was his lowest stat at 8, moreover it could potentially show its worth in numerous ways. In a game setting it wasn't always the most skilled player that emerged triumphant, but the luckiest. While a skilled player may grind for dozens of hours for a single drop, a lucky player may come upon it on his first try. Luck could potentially outclass skill and experience if given the right circumstances.

"+2 to luck"

Verbalizing his command he observed as the love points dropped back down to zero and his luck increased to a very satisfying 10.

 **Fortune smiles upon you – Your luck has increased**

 **You have reached your current cap on the luck stat, raise your other stats across the board to the next milestone to increase your cap. Next milestone 15.**

Naruto grew wide-eyed, he hadn't imagined the possibility of stat requirements. Apparently it was a way to prevent someone from being completely skewed towards certain stats. He supposed that it was to encourage a more balanced character. Apparently all of the stats had different caps set up in correlation to the others, for instance luck was capped at ten but he was still allowed to increase any of his other stats including charisma which was at twenty. It was possible that the main stats could all go up to maybe 20 to 25 without stumbling into a cap lock.

Though that charisma stat was likely under the effects of the hentai protag stat so it may be a little bit different than what he suspected.

He supposed he could try tinkering around with the stat menu for a bit to see if he could figure out some more info on stat caps, but he was far more eager to look upon his newly unlocked scenario.

"Scenario – The Darkest Night"

His view switched over to the scenario menu only to be startled at the contents of the scenario.

"W-what is this?" Naruto said with a startled expression as he looked on wide-eyed towards the description of the scenario. A chill creeping up his spine as his pink world took a much darker turn.

 **Timed Scenario – The Darkest Night – 3h 12min 42sec remaining**

 **Mission 2: The Darkest Night – The Beginning**

 _ **Stop Katase's suicide attempt**_

 **Rewards:**

 **Katase**

 **Title – Mortal Savior**

 _ **Difficulty: SSS**_

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 **AN:** This takes place prior to Issei becoming a devil so certain events have yet to transpire and certain people have not yet to fall into their respective roles in the series. Moreover this story is AU so expect differences from the original series. **  
**

Also the reward at the end is for the mission not the scenario. Things like love points, affection, and monie are usually rewarded at the end of the scenario as a lump sum rather than per mission instance.


	2. Chapter 2: The Darkest Night

**Updated AN: Found out some people are triggered by the existence of Issei in this particular crossover, well before anyone jumps to any conclusions Issei is a secondary character in this story that is NOT part of the main cast and will be used mostly as comic relief later in the story. Two harem seeking male leads simply cant occupy the same space in time.** **He might or might not get a girl and if so it will probably happen off screen.**

* * *

 **Chapter II**

* * *

 **The Darkest Night**

 **-x-**

"Oh my god…" Naruto gasped as he covered his mouth in shock, the full implications of what he had just read utterly changing his perspective on his newfound ability. Just when he had started treating it like a game it had all become far too real.

He knew…he somehow just knew, that if that timer that kept counting down hit zero then this girl would really die.

Katase, he had heard that name before…if he was right they went to school together and she even shared some classes with him. A prominent member of the kendo club she had even beaten up Issei and the other two stooges a couple times along with her friend Murayama. His interactions with her were brief, so much so that he honestly couldn't even remember her face.

Naruto's attachment with her was negligible, to the point that he would probably feel nothing beyond some pity if she really did die. However knowing that he was the only one that knew what was going to happen…could he truly turn a blind eye to such an instance? Knowing that tomorrow when the news reached his ears and the school fell into mourning that he alone could have stopped such a course of events from coming to fruition?

"This…this changes everything" He whispered softly to himself as his thoughts fell into disarray.

Naruto wasn't a magnanimous or benevolent person, he wouldn't help others out of some ill-conceived sense of responsibility or put himself in danger simply for the sake of others. However this was different, in more than one sense.

Why would Katase even commit suicide? With such a happy and energetic personality he simply couldn't imagine her possessing such self-destructive tendencies. A person that had the nerve to kill themselves didn't come to such a decision on a mere whim. If he didn't figure out why she had gone to such lengths then even if he stopped her now she would only hold him in contempt and likely still take her own life at a later point.

He was missing something.

That meant that if he truly wanted to do this then he had only a little over three hours to figure out why she wanted to take her own life and stop her from doing so. Moreover he was sorely lacking in information, even if he knew that she was going to take her own life he still didn't know the methods she was going to employ in doing so nor the location.

'Moreover…' Naruto looked at the difficulty rating under the rewards for the mission. Triple S difficulty…in most games he had played such a difficulty was considered nigh impossible. With him having just started the 'game' it was tantamount to him challenging god with a wooden training sword.

Katase's suicide attempt while a difficult task to overcome should not warrant such a high difficulty rating. This meant that the difficulty rating was for the overall scenario ' **The Darkest Night'**. However why would preventing Katase's suicide attempt set off a chain of events that would result in such a difficulty rating?

'Difficulty: SSS' Naruto attempted to inquire telepathically in order to better understand the situation, he receiving a response in kind from the system.

 **Difficulty Rating is a classification rating system that classifies scenario or mission parameters by terms of difficulty. The rating system in terms of difficulty from least to greatest is as follows;**

 **F-Rank**

 **D-Rank**

 **C-Rank**

 **B-Rank**

 **A-Rank**

 **S-Rank**

 **SS-Rank**

 **SSS-Rank**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?$#!**

Naruto couldn't help but to think that the ranking of the last one said 'fuck' underneath that mixed text as that is what he would likely exclaim if he was assigned any of the three censored difficulty missions. The text continued scrolling as it automatically detailed his earlier selection of the SSS class difficulty missions. He taking in a sharp intake of breath as his fears were all but confirmed.

 **SSS-Rank**

 **A difficulty level that is far beyond the capabilities of mortals. Challenging the intrinsic laws of the universe and confrontations with supernatural beings of unimaginable power are commonplace. To complete an SSS-Rank quest is necessary to step into higher realms as it enables gods to comprehend divine laws upon completion.**

 **Recommended power level – God**

 **Current power level – Non-Combatant Mortal (Charming Human)**

Naruto frowned, this mission…wasn't it far too unreasonable to assign to him at this point in time. It was like the system expected him to fail. His curiosity was also piqued at that weird title following his power level – was that supposed to be his race? What the hell was a charming human – a variant? Does that mean that if he were a pokémon he would be a shiny?

Also it was quite curious to find out there were realms that were higher than gods, moreover the existence of supernatural beings had been all but confirmed by his ability now. However he truly couldn't contemplate the implications of such a thing at the moment.

He who had the strength of mortal was to challenge a mission that was only suitable for gods. How badly he wanted to simply dive into his bed and sleep the night away in blissful ignorance was something only he himself knew but…

He knew…he somehow just knew that the system wouldn't assign a task he had absolutely no chance in completing. No matter if it were simply a one in a billion chance of him succeeding it was still a chance, moreover the system held a certain degree of confidence in him completing this particular scenario to have assigned it to him.

The scenario was time limited so it had probably taken the initiative to present it to him immediately even though he wasn't at the recommended power value. Moreover the fact it was still assigned to him at such a level insinuated that it could be completed without godlike power and that the difficulty lay in another aspect that was to be tested. For instance charm…

As long as they weren't talking in terms of strength and he wasn't to fight anyone then his chances were far greater than they would be otherwise.

More importantly the rewards were sure to be incredible. If he a human were to complete a mission that was meant for a god then wouldn't his rewards too be god-like? His first mission was to stop a girl from committing suicide which likely amounted to a C or B ranked mission at best and only due to lack of information.

The rewards for the first mission were the Title 'Mortal Savior' and…Katase.

He honestly wasn't sure what to make of it, did it mean that Katase would be his? In what sense exactly? Then there was the title…

"Title – Mortal Savior" Naruto called out as he started seriously considering going after this quest line, the benefits it could potentially provide him far outweighing his apprehensions over the matter as he rationalized things at his convenience. He not noticing the tragic flaw in his thought process…of how all his assumptions were built upon the thought that the system was working in his favor.

 **Title – Mortal Savior**

 **Title level too high to analyze. Level up Divine Vision or acquire the title to further analyze details.**

It was something good, he could feel it. Moreover it was an individual quest reward that he would acquire after completing the first part of the Darkest Night quest line. In other words even if he failed the overall questline he would still be able to keep the title and possibly even Katase as well.

Naruto glanced at the timer; **3h 2min 54sec remaining**

There was no time to hesitate, time waited for no one and if he didn't do this then he would probably regret not having taken the chance later. There were rewards to be had, a damsel in distress to be saved, and a mystery to be solved.

What sort of protagonist wouldn't rise to such a blatant challenge? An interesting protagonist wouldn't just allow himself to give up, this was a game and as the main character he had to play his part as the hero.

'That's right, this is just a game…' Smirking to himself as a strange light flashed across his eyes, Naruto decided to allow the game to play out as the surreal nature of the situation distanced him from all that he had ever known. As his mind gave way to this newfound reality…

Where to start however…looking towards his phone a mischievous grin slowly spread across his face as a plan formed.

-x-

"That idiot calling me in the middle of the night like this and asking me to help him break into school, honestly if I didn't owe him half a dozen favors I wouldn't even bother. I take no comfort in spending my night with a guy! Now if he were a cute girl though…hehehe." A young man that looked to be about the same age as Naruto laughed creepily as he waited in front of the Kuoh Academy next to his bike.

"Are you having weird fantasies about me again? What's up with that perverted laugh?" A voice called out from the dark.

"Who would fantasize about you!? I will have you know that this young master in front of you only fantasizes about girls and his future harem! You have no place in my fantasies!" The young man shouted as he span around and glared at the grinning blonde that seemed quite satisfied at how effective his teasing was at riling up the brown haired youth in front of him.

This blond haired young man with two flashlights on hand and a bag slung over his shoulder was Naruto. Wearing a black blazer over a buttoned up white long-sleeved dress shirt with black highlights it was clear he had come dressed in his Kuoh Academy boy's school uniform in case they somehow got caught.

The brown haired youth was none other than Issei Hyoudou. With his spiky brown hair, light brown eyes, and an athletic build he would have been quite popular with the ladies if it weren't for his shameless and perverted personality. Contrary to Naruto who was regarded by most girls as handsome Issei on the other hand would be regarded as being cute…if he weren't a pervert of course.

He was wearing the same uniform as Naruto with the difference being his high long-sleeve dress shirt was open revealing a red T-shirt underneath.

Naruto's glanced at the timer; **2h 23min 14sec remaining**

"Catch" Naruto said as he threw a flashlight at Issei, who deftly snatched it out of the air before looking at it oddly for a moment and turning to Naruto who was looking over the contents of the bag one final time.

"So we're really going through with this…are you not going to tell me what we are breaking in for?" Issei asked as he looked at his friend inquisitively.

Naruto paused for a moment at the loaded question before he lifted his head and stared straight into Issei's eyes in such a manner that it couldn't help but unnerve the other teen. This continued for a moment before Naruto seemed to come to a conclusion on the matter and looked towards the academy.

"I don't have the time to explain it to you in detail, but someone I know is in trouble and I have no way of contacting them. The only way I can think of figuring out where they can possibly be in such a short amount of time is through the student records in the nurse's office." Naruto explained the situation to Issei without giving out too many details, it wasn't that he didn't trust Issei, rather it was that he didn't think him knowing more than what he had said would do him any good. If Naruto somehow ended up in trouble because of this he would rather not involve Issei in his own problems and spare him the grief.

Hearing Naruto not elaborate further Issei couldn't help but frown, it wasn't like Naruto to keep him in the dark like this. However the situation seemed quite complicated now that he managed to hear the tail end of it. Naruto wouldn't call him out like this if it wasn't serious.

Seeing Issei's frown and not having time to explain everything or get him to believe him in the first place Naruto decided to strike while the iron was hot.

"If you want you can leave you know." Naruto said, the statement catching Issei off-guard as he turned to look at the blonde in surprise, "Just boost me over the wall and be done with it." Naruto said in an all too easygoing manner, yet Issei could tell…if he bailed on Naruto now their friendship was over. This was when Naruto needed him most and if he fell short now then there was no need to foster such a weak bond any longer.

Not saying a word Issei pushed past Naruto and squatted down beside the wall before locking his fingers together to create a makeshift foothold.

"Stop speaking nonsense, to go back after coming all the way here...I am not inclined to waste my time in such a fashion. You said you were pressed on time didn't you? If that's the case then leave the mind games for later, I'm already here aren't I?" Issei declared firmly with an exasperated expression at Naruto's weird tests.

"Wow, if girls knew you were this dependable then maybe you wouldn't be such a loser" Naruto said with a smirk as he stepped on the makeshift foothold for Issei to boost him over the wall.

"Fuck you too" Issei grunted as he hoisted Naruto up, he could be watching porn right now but noooo…

"So direct, Issei what did I tell you about fantasizing about me?" Naruto teased as he managed to reach the top of the wall. He instantly stretching out his hand to pull Issei up with him.

"You know, if I was a smaller man I would hate you" Issei said with a glare as he was dragged up and followed after Naruto in jumping down.

"Stop talking about your insecurities (1) and help me pick this lock open, we're running out of time" Naruto said as he quickly focused his attention on picking the lock to one of doors according to the video he looked up on Niconico Douga. (2)

Crying manly tears of frustration as Naruto was actually being completely serious in his misunderstanding this time, Issei could only light the area with his flashlight with a bitter heart as Naruto picked the lock.

This was going to be a _long_ night.

-x-

 _Kuoh Academy Nurse's Office_

"This is it…open the door Issei"

"Wait, why do I have to be the one to open it!?"

"Because as a gentleman I would feel ashamed if a lady like you didn't go first"

*Slam!*

Issei slammed the door open with a narrow eyed expression before he turned to Naruto with a mocking grin and gestured towards the open doorway, "Ladies first"

Raising an eyebrow at the suddenness of the action Naruto shrugged before casually walking in, ignoring Issei's provocation entirely.

"Stop trying to flirt with me Issei, I have more important things to do" Naruto said dismissively as he started looking around the nurse's office.

"Every damn time, why can't you just let me win for once!? For the last time I don't like you…in any capacity!"

"Tsundere, anyways help me find the folders that start with M while I look through the K's, look for Murayama." Naruto said as he got to work, his flashlight in hand as he refrained from turning on any lights lest it give them away.

"Murayama huh?" Issei whispered to himself as he tried to remember where he heard the name as he looked for it. It was only when he saw the folder and who it pertained to that it all clicked for him. Walking over to Naruto only to see him looking over Katase's folder as he fiddled with his phone he couldn't help but be curious about Naruto's purpose in coming here once more.

"The two kendo girls...what's so special about them?" Issei asked as he placed Murayama's folder next to Katase's only for Naruto to raise up a hand to silence him for a moment. A low ringing tone sounding out.

Echoing in the silence the tone seemed to cut through the veil of night and fill Issei with a sense of unease that was nearly nauseating. The tension was thick, licking his lips that had suddenly gone dry Issei heard as the tone went dead and Naruto's face fell.

"Her phone is off…"

 **2h 6min 37sec remaining**

Naruto wasted no time snatching Murayama's file as he quickly dialed her number as well only to have it go straight to voicemail. He tried calling two more times to hopefully grab the girl's attention only to receive no response, he was too hopeful to think that she would answer a call from an unknown number.

Knowing that she wasn't liable to pick up he decided to leave a message and simply head out to Katase's address on his bike. It might be near the edge of town but he was confident in making it in time. What he was worried was if Katase was in Murayama's house instead, with her being in the opposite direction he wouldn't be able to make it there on his bike if he went to Katase's house first.

"Hey this is Naruto Uzumaki, I go to class with you and Katase and sit in the back row. I'm calling in regards to some rumors I heard concerning Katase and wanted to confirm with you that she is alright. Please call me back as soon as possible. Thank you." Naruto said before he hung up and turned his attention to taking pictures of both girl's files with his phone.

"Is Katase alright Naruto?"

Hearing the concern and worry in Issei's voice Naruto decided at that moment that if he wanted to accomplish this impossible task he needed help. He couldn't go to both houses at the same time, but if Issei could cover one house while he covered the other the risk of him failing decreased by half.

He wasn't one to gamble with other people's lives.

"Issei…do you trust me?"

Issei's foolish grin told Naruto all he needed to know.

-x-

Shortly thereafter the two boys left the school before heading in opposite directions on their bikes. Their thoughts and motives different but their goals now perfectly aligned. With both their smartphones showing the exact same timer counting down…

 **1h 43min 18sec remaining**

With his thoughts in disarray Issei pedaled forward, Naruto's words echoing in his ears as he thought on what the two of them were setting out to prevent. The pressure setting in he couldn't help but pedal faster.

" _If I told you that I knew that Katase was going to die in the next 2 hours would you believe me?"_

Suicide…Katase that dumb girl who he had tried to peep on more than once was going to kill herself. He couldn't even imagine such a turn of events prior to this but Naruto's words had been far too convincing. The timing accurate to the point of it being unnatural. Shaking his head of such useless thoughts Issei glared at the road in front of him as he concentrated on his current mission.

He had to go to Murayama's house and stop Katase from killing herself if she was there, if she wasn't there then he was to enlist the help of Murayama in Katase's intervention. Naruto himself was to head to Katase's house…Issei could only hope that they weren't too late.

-x-

Naruto was currently speeding towards Katase's house, his thoughts distant as he pondered on his conversation with Issei and what had transpired at the time. It was needless to say that Issei had agreed to help him, however…

 **Charisma requirement met! Speech Test Successful!**

 **Issei Hyoudou has become a (temporary) follower!**

Such a message had appeared as he was explaining the situation to Issei, this nearly causing him to bite his own tongue as he talked.

Apparently his charm trait had somehow triggered during the explanation and resulted in Issei being completely convinced by everything he said. Somehow he had passed a speech test due to his high charisma and managed to acquire Issei as a temporary ally.

He had tried to analyze charisma in detail after seeing this but was unable to do so as he simply got a default definition of the term rather than its implications. If he needed a definition he would have consulted a dictionary. Upon attempting several other methods to garner an explanation from the system he was greeted by a familiar message.

 **Level up Divine Vision to further analyze.**

His curiosity building he could only pedal towards his destination even faster. There was so much about all this he didn't know and even the few things he did know still confused him, however…

His mother once told him that a person should not focus on things that they were incapable of doing and should rather do their best at what they can do. Thinking up to here he knew that what he _could_ do was save Katase as for what came after that…

The impossible still eluded him, he could only hope for the best.

-x-

Arriving at Katase's house Naruto was quick to dismount his bike and rush towards the door. Just as he was about to knock on the door however his actions stilled before he quickly proceeded to straighten out his clothes and fix his hair, only once he was sure he was presentable did he knock on the door.

He waited for a couple of seconds only to receive no reply, they didn't have a doorbell so all he could do was knock again. Once again, no reply.

Naruto glanced at how much time he had left; **1h 11min 34sec remaining**

He knocked again only to receive no reply once more, could they…could they be out? Sweating inwardly at the thought he couldn't help but knock a bit louder this time. Seriously it wouldn't be funny if they were really out of the house as it would mean an instant fail and a huge mess to clean up if she killed herself at some undisclosed location with him knowing it.

He could only hope they were asleep, banging on the door in desperation as he jiggled the doorknob he was surprised when the door suddenly swung open as it was unlocked. Stumbling forward only to catch himself before falling down the first thing that he noticed was the oppressive atmosphere inside the house. Like stepping into a graveyard coupled with the tension of being called up to the principal's office.

It wasn't a pleasant sensation, moreover it was quiet, far too quiet for all noise he had been making. He didn't think they would still be asleep after that but if they were out then why was the front door unlocked?

Stepping into the living room Naruto's eyes widened before he felt bile rise up his throat, he had heard about things like this in history books before but the sight that greeted him was just… sickening.

*Blerghhh!*

He emptied the contents of his stomach on the spot as tears brimmed at the corner of his eyes, his bleary eyes gazing in bewilderment towards the male corpse of what he could only assume to be Katase's father.

With his abdomen sliced open from left to right his intestines had spilled out all over the floor, his head lowered as if in prayer he held his hands out as if presenting a gift to someone.

'What the fuck…?'

Wiping away the bile from his mouth with his sleeve as he panted, he barely managed to get himself together before another wave of nausea assaulted him as he threw up once again.

Having seen the nature of the wound as well as the formal sitting position Katase's father had taken before he was killed he could only deduce that he had committed seppuku. An ancient form of ritualistic suicide that featured ceremonial disembowelment.

From this Naruto could likely infer that the wound that killed Katase's father was likely self-inflicted with his posture hinting that he probably presented the sword he used to someone else upon his death. However that didn't make sense, the mission only mentioned Katase's suicide attempt it made no mention towards her parents.

Thoroughly unnerved and unable to understand what was going on he couldn't help but grow even more concerned at Katase's mental state if she saw something like this.

'I need to find her…'

Getting ahold of himself Naruto proceeded to explore the rest of the house while calling out to Katase, he not taking any chances in her not answering him back since for all he knew she have fallen into shock. What he found was far more gruesome than he could possibly have imagined.

Katase's mother lying dead on the kitchen floor, her hands covered in blood from trying to stem the blood flow from a blade wound near her abdomen. It seemed to have been a slow and painful death.

"Katase!" Screaming out her name Naruto continued to search the house in a blind panic from top to bottom, however it wasn't until he went through the last room that he discovered the futility of his actions. Katase was gone and so was the murder weapon.

 **42min 27sec remaining**

"Damn it!" Naruto roared as he slammed his fist against the wall in frustration, his only lead on Katase having just ended on a literal dead end. If he were to fail now the consequences wouldn't be funny, worst case scenario he could potentially be implicated with her parents murder and possibly her own when Katase killed herself. Both Issei and by now probably Murayama both knew he was going to Katase's house and as such he would be the last known person to come into contact with the family.

He was just too suspicious at this point.

Casting a glance at the bodies he briefly considered getting rid of them but couldn't think of anything beyond burying them in the backyard. It didn't take him long to deem any attempts to cover this up as useless, the moment that Katase's death made the news her parents would be contacted and when they turned up missing investigations would shortly be underway to find them.

Covering up evidence was a crime in of itself and one that he truly would be guilty of if he tampered with a potential crime scene. Not knowing what to do at this point he decided that it would be prudent to vacate the premises as soon as possible. He still had 40 minutes before Katase killed herself, all he needed to do was to come up with a good story for Murayama and convince both her and Issei that he had done all he could. Maybe he could even blame Katase for the murder and say that she killed herself out of guilt.

Yeah, now that he thought about it the murder weapon wasn't here which probably meant that Katase had it. He doubted it was her that killed her parents as all evidence pointed to her father having killed her mother before committing suicide, but it would work for his purposes nonetheless. Sure he would feel bad desecrating a dead person's name like that but it was better than rotting in jail for a crime he didn't commit.

He would be sure to bring flowers to her grave as an apology.

Plan in mind he proceeded to lock the front door from the inside before making his way out of the house from an open window in the kitchen. Walking to his bike while thinking of his alibi he was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of his phone ringing.

It was Issei.

Answering the phone he was about to ask what had happened on his end before he heard a hurried female voice on the line.

"Naruto-san! Naruto-san can you hear me!?"

"Murayama-san, is that you?"

"T-thank goodness I managed to contact you! I heard all about it from Issei, I never would have thought…" Murayama broke down crying as her emotions seemed to be all over the place.

The wheels in his head turning, he couldn't help but be amazed at how Issei had managed to convince Murayama of the matter so quickly. She sounded even more panicked that he had when he thought he was going to be implicated for murder.

"Murayama-san calm down, I need you to listen to me alright. Does Katase's family own a sword?"

"A sword? I-I'm not sure but I do know her daddy collects Japanese antiques, maybe one of them might be a sword. W-why… did something happen?"

The question instantly seemed to put Murayama on edge as a trace of panic slipped into her voice.

"No, hopefully not yet. However it is my belief that Katase is currently armed at the moment and in an extremely emotional state. Murayama aside from her house do you know anywhere Katase could be? It is extremely important that you think about this carefully, we may not have a second chance."

"I-I'm not sure, we usually only hang out in three places; her house, my house, or at school. Asides from those we go to other places like the library and karaoke sometimes."

Murayama seemed very afraid the moment that he mentioned Katase's volatile state, however she seemed to instantly take it as that Katase was currently emotionally unstable and might inflict harm upon herself. Moreover now that he had said that Katase was the one that had the sword if he failed to save her on time then Murayama would likely come to his defense after news of her parent's death came to light.

However this was _if_ he failed the mission.

He knew that Katase wasn't home and Murayama wouldn't have called if Katase was over at her house which left one possible location where she was likely to be. The place where everything had started in the first place – Kuoh Academy.

* * *

 **AN: Fun fact I haven't read any gamer Naruto fics,** **I was actually inspired to write this story from watching a let's play of Huniepop**. **Go figure.**

As for stats and the like I based most of it from general stats in games and based the initial stat window from a light novel. The entire stat window will only be brought up after timeskips or when Naruto is confirming something. Usually only partial windows will be a shown.

Also Naruto missed Katase on his way to her house. She was literally heading to the school as he was going to her house. FYI Naruto spent some of the time in the house cleaning up his vomit, as interesting and plot centric as that may be.

You are free to play detective on this until the next chapter and try to figure out why people are dying and what set the Darkest Night in motion.

* * *

 **Chapter Notes:**

(1) By size Naruto thinks that Issei is making a reference to his penis, hence why Issei was distraught at the misunderstanding. Needless to say Issei meant a man of lesser character when he said a smaller man.

(2) Niconico Douga is basically a Japanese version of YouTube.


	3. Chapter 3: Things Left Unsaid

**New Profile Bio:** I write for myself before I write for others, as such my aim is to write stories that ultimately satisfy me as the author before the thought of pleasing any potential readers come to mind. I have numerous stories that will never see the light of day that please me greatly, this particular one I'm sharing with you due to thinking that others would like to share the experience with me. Be that as it may I have most stories already mapped out in my head, the issue is finding the motivation of putting them onto paper.

I write because the stories I want to read haven't been written. – Yours Truly

* * *

 **AN:** Props to MercenaryGrax for motivating and sufficiently guilt tripping me into writing this chapter. I hadn't even bothered starting on it until I got their review.

As for Issei he is not a part of the Main Cast in this story, he is a secondary character that I will probably use for comedic relief most of the time. It is my belief that two harem-seeking protags cannot occupy the same space in time, as such he is not a deuteragonist. If you want to read a story with a deuteragonist you can read my Naruto and One Punch Man crossover Limitless.

I write with white text on black backdrop due to my eyesight, as such you may find the bold and such far more glaring than I do, if so I apologize. Also the site comes with a pre-built color inversion option that allows you to read it as I designed it. It is a little less glaring that way in my opinion.

* * *

Chapter III

* * *

 **Things Left Unsaid**

 **-x-**

Time was running out, as Naruto pushed his bike against the school gate he didn't bother on courtesy as he balanced himself on top of it and kicked off. The bike toppling over on the sidewalk as he barely managed to vault over the wall.

Hitting the ground running he wasted no time heading towards the door he had use to break in earlier only to find it pried open, practically confirming his suspicions of Katase being in the school building as he was sure he had previously closed it.

 **12min 36sec remaining**

He didn't have time to check the whole school it was simply too big, as such he had been informed by Murayama of the six likeliest possible places she could be; the art room, the gymnasium, the kendo club room, the girls lockers, the roof, and finally their own homeroom.

He only had time to check three of those.

The school was simply too wide and just getting from the gymnasium to the roof would take him around six minutes. He had no clue what Issei and Murayama were doing but he couldn't get in touch with them anymore, something that unnerved him for some reason.

Circumstances being as they were he had decided on the route that he would take prior to arriving here; the art room, the roof, and finally the homeroom. Katase already was armed with a sword and as such could potentially kill herself in any of the aforementioned locations. The three were spread out in such a way that he could reach each one with only about a three minute gap in-between as long as he started with the art room and finished with the roof.

The chances were 50-50…to be honest he was surprised he had even gotten this far so those odds seemed far too kind already.

The problem was the fact that she was armed with a sword while he was armed with only a smartphone, for all he knew Katase might be totally insane at this point following the death of her parents. If she turned her blade against him…it wouldn't be pretty that's for sure.

He would have gone to the kendo club room to hopefully acquire some gear however that would only work if he headed through the alternate route of kendo club room, girl's lockers, and gymnasium. He had briefly considered maybe taking a tree branch with him for self-defense but he didn't want to put her on guard from the moment he showed up. Rather he wanted to present himself in a non-threatening fashion in order to get her to lower her guard.

If he showed up armed it was simply asking for a confrontation. Rather what he needed to do if things went south and she tried to attack him was just run. Naruto like Issei had participated in track and field during middle school due to his parents urging, now Issei might not have bothered with it anymore but he himself had remained at the top of his game since then even after quitting. He wasn't necessarily competitive anymore but he could be regarded as pretty fast nonetheless.

Flight rather than fight was what this situation called for if she tried to confront him instead of listening to any form of reason.

He had to hurry, time was running out.

-x-

"Murayama-san why aren't we going to the school to meet up with Naruto? That's where Katase-san is isn't it?" Issei asked as he marveled at the feeling of Murayama's chest pressing itself against his back as she held onto him from behind. Even if a car were to come and run him over for riding his bike on the middle of the road full speed like this he would die with no regrets. Those heavenly mounds pressing against his back made him pedal as hard as he possibly could so that she would continue to tightly cling onto him.

He was a very easy fellow to order around, if a cute girl told him to get on his bike and drive her somewhere he would be all too quick to comply. The fact that he didn't know where they were going notwithstanding.

"I have a feeling that Naruto-san is hiding something from us, it's strange that one of the first things he asked about was if Katase's family owned a sword. There would be no need to ask such a thing if nothing was wrong. Also the fact that Katase's parents are not being involved in the search for her has me worried. If anyone knows where she may be it's her parents, I think that Naruto-san either wasn't able to meet Katase's parents for some reason or discovered something that led him to believe she wasn't at her house anymore." Murayama explained to Issei, the in-depth analysis instantly serving to remind him how Katase and Murayama were both in the top 10% of their age group academically.

"I hadn't thought of that…"

"Another thing that has me suspicious is where Naruto-san acquired the information concerning Katase's suicide attempt, she was never close enough to confide such things with him. If she wouldn't tell me then why would she tell him?"

"He said he had it in good authority from someone, he never said it was from Katase" Issei defended, not entirely comfortable with the girl accusing Naruto like that.

Seeing the girl about to open her mouth again, Issei promptly cut her off "Look just like you know Katase I know Naruto, he wouldn't bother getting out of bed and dragging us out on a wild goose chase in the middle of the night if it wasn't serious. With his passive and easygoing personality it would take something of this magnitude just to get him to act at all. If it's a false alarm then great, we only lost a few hours of sleep anyway, but if it's even remotely true…could you live with yourself knowing you could have stopped it?"

That shut her up. Murayama had to agree that Naruto even bothering to help at all was her good fortune. If he wasn't involved no one would have ever even known about Katase's possible suicide attempt before it was too late. The fact where he got the information not withstanding it was already alarming enough that she couldn't get into contact with Katase or her family.

If it was true and Katase was really going to kill herself then she wouldn't even care if Naruto was Katase's secret stalker if that ultimately served to save her life. However there were just so many points about all this that didn't add up, it seemed that all sense of control over the situation had been deprived from her even before she was involved. Slumping forward in defeat much to Issei's perverted delight, she proceeded to keep her silence on her way to Katase's house. One question still prominent in her thoughts…

'Why would he even help us?'

-x-

Bursting into the art room Naruto was met with nearly half a dozen pale faces gazing back at him, instantly making a shiver travel down his spine at the sight. As if everything that had happened so far wasn't disturbing enough.

'Fucking mannequins'

Apparently the art class was working with drawing human figures before they got to work with live models, since it was a chore for anyone to maintain a posture for any significant amount of time without moving the school had purchased several mannequins for the occasion. He had even heard that there even were a pair of anatomically correct models in storage from Issei once. It was one of the few perverted rumors Naruto had heard from him that he wasn't quick to discredit. It would be more sensible than having a nude live model with perverts like Issei around.

Casting a quick scan over the room and not spotting his target he wasted no time in closing the door before hurrying towards his next objective. Naruto was growing nervous, could it be that he had chosen the wrong route or worse she wasn't in the school at all?

Barging into the homeroom which was actually the place he had suspected the most since that and outside the girl's locker rooms were the only two places he had seen Katase, he felt his hopes crash as he found the room to be totally empty.

 **5min 29sec remaining**

He…he had failed, the homeroom was actually his best bet and the reason he had even bothered on this route in the first place. If she wasn't in homeroom he honestly couldn't see her in any of the other places.

To be honest even now he still doubted the possibility of her even being in the school, fact of the matter was she had a sword with her, why would she even bother coming to the school in the middle of the night to kill herself. It was merely wishful thinking on his part that she would be here.

It was fine he supposed, it was a mission of a difficulty far too high for someone like him to accomplish. He could be comforted in the knowledge that he had tried his best, it was only his first mission and an SSS rank at that, more were sure to come in the future. He would just have to treat it as a learning experience and learn from all this.

Having mentally unburdened himself in such a fashion Naruto could feel himself relax as he started heading for the stairs. He had played his part well, however this fairy tale was destined for tragedy long before he stumbled into this empty stage. Stumbling along blindly had gotten him this far, yet it was predestined for failure. Time waited for no one, no matter how determined he may be everyone had their limitations and this was his.

Opening the door to the roof as he completed his preassigned route he came upon a sight that caused his thoughts to come to a stop. There standing at the edge of the roof overlooking a distant horizon was Katase, blade in hand it seemed as if she too had given up and was simply waiting for his timer to count down to her inevitable demise.

Having finally caught sight of the girl that had eluded him for the last three hours a sense of surrealism descended upon him. Seeing her with her back facing him as the wind played with her hair she seemed as elusive as myth and as hard to grasp as smoke.

It all seemed like a cruel joke that the moment he was finally accepted the impossibility of this task a chance presented itself like this before him. A jaded part of his heart couldn't help but imagine her tipping over and shattering like glass the moment he took a step forwards.

 **2min 9sec remaining**

"Katase…" Naruto called out cautiously, his voice little more than a whisper as if speaking too loudly would push her over the edge. Both in a figurative and literal sense.

Katase seemed to tilt her head to the side for a moment in what he could only perceive as confusion before she turned to face him. Naruto for his part couldn't help the gasp that left his lips at the sight that greeted him.

Katase stood before her just as he remembered her, with short light orange hair that reached just shy of her shoulders and eyes of the same shade, she had often stood out to him simply because of her affinity with his favorite colour. Wearing a simple looking pink top, pajama bottoms, and a pair of fluffy bunny slippers on her feet she looked ready to go to bed rather than kill herself.

However what set him on edge were the lifeless orange eyes that gazed back at him without a shred of human emotion or life. Like a doll's eyes they regarded him without feeling, she not bothering to address him as she simply leveled the blade against him.

His world exploded into color as the system sprung to life in response to the non-verbal challenge.

 **1v1**

 **Stage: Kuoh Academy (Night)**

 **Possessed Katase vs. Naruto Uzumaki**

At the sudden influx of information oddly enough it was the blade that she held in her hands that caught his attention. Covered in a layer of rust it looked positively ancient, it was around 62cm long with a surprisingly intact hilt whose length appeared to be close to 7cm. Contrary to his expectations it wasn't a katana as he half expected coming into this, but a tsurugi – a double-edged sword for ceremonial use. Rather he suspected the blade in front of him might even predate the katana.

It was while he was trying to analyze the sword while digesting what the system had just said about Katase being possessed that his divine vision activated and mocked his every action as it killed any and all hope he held.

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi – Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven (Cursed)**

 **A legendary sword wielded by the god Susanoo after he acquired it from the fourth tail of the ancient eight headed dragon serpent Yamata no Orochi, it served to allow the god Susanoo to curry favor with the goddess Amaterasu after he was expelled from the heavens.**

 _ **Shinto Faction Legendary Artifact**_

In an instant he felt his breath be stolen from him as he felt his heart go cold. Representing the virtue of valor the Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven was a blade whose legend was immortalized in Japanese culture. Popularized under the name _Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi_ , it as one of the three Imperial Regalia of Japan represented a thousand years of tradition and was a physical embodiment of Japanese culture and folklore. This blade before him wasn't only priceless it was also a historic and religious artifact of cultural significance.

Yet that was the last thing on his mind as he cast his gaze upon it, his divine vision allowing him to gaze beneath the supernatural veil that shielded the sword from mortal eyes. Its blade shimmering with an ethereal sheen it seemed to devour the overhead moon as all light was drawn into it. Looking to have been forged from stars it cut the veil of night with all the majesty of an emperor as it challenged him to battle.

Around Katase's still figure slithered eight ghostly serpents; four wrapped around her sword arm before melting into the sword, one besieging each of her other limbs, and a final one draped across her shoulders as it hissed threateningly at him.

It didn't take a very imaginative person to figure out that those serpents related to the possession she was currently undergoing and if said possession was being caused by the cursed Kusanagi then he could only speculate it had something to with the Yamata no Orochi from legend.

The SSS difficulty was suddenly making a whole lot more sense now.

"Katase can you hear me!?" Naruto called out as he tried to get her attention, he not receiving a response but by seeing her tense up at his attempt to reach out to her he was sure that she could hear him. Katase had somehow wandered her way here from her house while under the Orochi's enthrallment so it was clear she was fighting the possession. Maybe she had gone to Kuoh to seek strength from the memories she had left behind here…

"Katase you don't have to do this! Think about Murayama and all the friends that you would be leaving behind if you give up! You can't be selfish about your life, if you were to die then all that you would give them in exchange for their friendship is a lifetime of grief! Keep fighting it and I'll do my best to help you on my end!" Naruto yelled out to Katase in order to hopefully get a reaction out of her as there was no way in hell he was beating her in a straight up fight.

He didn't need the system to tell him that the difficulty level of facing a possessed girl wielding a legendary sword like the Kusunagi would briefly translate to _fuck you_.

Now he was the first to say that he honestly didn't know how to approach a person about to commit suicide by possession so he could only wing it. The only possession he had seen happened in anime and his experience with suicide was just as poor as it only existed in anime as well. Needless to say this wasn't an anime.

However he could see his words had the intended effect as her expressionless face suddenly twisted in pain, she reaching a hand up to her face as she fought to try to regain control of her body. The ethereal serpents wrapping tighter in response as they further restrained her and bound her will.

The fight within raged on just as the one outside commenced.

Her face twisted into a dark expression, Naruto saw as Katase lifted her sword into the air with a venomous glare. She was still a good twenty feet away but when she raised the Kusanagi, the moon reflecting off the blade, he felt as every fiber of his being screamed at him to get away.

He jumped to the right just as the blade fell, a trail of sword light chasing after the blade it stopped so that it ran perpendicular with the ground as it was held before her once more. Her arm held straight as if she were simply practicing kendo, it hadn't even come in contact with the ground. Yet the sight that greeted him defied all logic.

A moment after her hand fell the world seemed to split in two, he looking on in horror as the entire left side of the roof slanted away from him. Then without preamble he observed as thousands of crisscrossing lines slowly formed across the surface of the left side of the roof before light seemed to momentarily pour out of the thousands of cuts made into the stone. This moments before the entire left side of the roof for lack of a better word _dematerialized_.

Thousands of interconnecting sword slashes seemingly cutting apart all that stood before it to the molecular level. His eyes simply registering it as it having turned into cubes of varying sizes that kept breaking down into smaller pieces as they lay suspended in mid-air before they completely disappeared.

"What the fuck was that Katase!? That was final boss level bullshit, I thought you were restraining that snake bastard!?" Naruto raged with a startled expression as he saw the clean cut that had removed half the roof from existence.

Sending an aggrieved look his way Katase managed to express onto him that she had done so, the fact that she managed to regain some life into her eyes a clear indication that she was giving her all to win the war over her body. Which meant…that attack was her holding back to her utmost.

'Holy shit'

Seeing as she tilted the blade sideways so that the flat side was resting on the palm of her hand, he only had a moment's notice before she carried out a horizontal sweeping motion. Slow and deliberate every single thing before it as it cut the horizon seemed to instantly dematerialize.

Ducking down in a mild panic he observed as everything above his head seemed to fade into nonexistence. The entrance to the roof being cut horizontally in half. If this was her holding back then he suspected that with the true power of Yamata no Orochi everything before her would have been leveled to the ground for miles.

'It's slow…'

The Kusunagi which originally felt as if it were unavoidable and gave the illusion of being impossibly fast was actually far slower than he had anticipated. With his divine vision allowing him to gaze through the multilayered illusions that encompassed the legendary sword, while he still felt as if the sword was impossible to dodge he could easily follow each swing with his untrained eye.

Each swing carried enough strength to level mountains yet it was also burdened by such power, the slower the movement the greater the power it seemed capable of unleashing with each swing. He suspected that each one of those swords of light probably took time to construct, maybe it was simply mere milliseconds but with the unreal number of blades packed into each swing it gave him enough time to observe the stance and predict how she was going to swing the sword.

It gave him enough time to dodge.

He didn't think this flaw existed with the sword itself but that rather it was Katase that had created it through her resistance of the Kusanagi. She was helping him…as such he couldn't disappoint her now could he?

Taking the opportunity he dashed forward just as her horizontal slash finished its arc. Katase was focusing all her effort in restraining the sword movements, noticing this as Naruto observed the sword once more raise into air for another vertical slash he had an idea.

"Katase release your control of your sword arm and focus your attention to your legs, position yourself to face towards the left!"

Just like Katase had divided her focus to remain coherent and control her sword arm, it was likely that the Orochi had done the same. If Naruto was to infer that each of the serpents represented how much focus the Orochi was placing into controlling each limb then it meant that the sword arm was where most of its focus was directed towards. Katase couldn't challenge the combined might of four serpents while she simultaneously struggled to retain her mind from the Orochi's enthrallment, at most she could restrain her actions to a certain degree but that was it.

Now while she couldn't overcome the combined might of four serpents her legs were only bound by a single serpent each, it didn't matter how powerful her swing if she shifted her stance and caused herself to miss.

"Okay" Katase managed to force out as she relinquished control of her sword arm before she redirected her focus to shifting her body abruptly towards the left just as the sword slightly overshot at the sudden lack of resistance. Sprinting forwards to knock the sword out of her hand he was caught off-guard as everything suddenly went white.

That was when he realized his mistake, Katase wasn't simply restraining Kusunagi's movement speed… but its power as well.

Regaining his vision he couldn't help but gape at the sight before him, a trench several miles long now cut across Kuoh Academy and the surrounding grounds. Starting from where the blade had fallen it cut through the land and caused all near it to dematerialize as millions upon millions of blades of light danced across the landscape. The overhead clouds having not been spared as they too gave way before such overwhelming might.

Most noticeably he could see that the west wing of the school had been silently split in two… before such might he was nothing more than an ant. He didn't have any time to react as an angry roar tore its way from Katase before two serpents bound themselves to each of Katase's legs. Three remaining wrapped around her sword arm while the one around her neck hissed at him in contempt.

In an instant all control Katase had over the situation was lost, the ground under her exploding as she kicked off at full speed towards him – her blade set to strike. Naruto didn't have time to blink let alone react, all he could think of as she rushed towards him blade in hand was that he had been way over his head going into this.

Fate had simply dealt him a bad hand and he had been foolish enough to go all in.

Closing his eyes in expectation of the pain that was sure to come, he was surprised as he felt something crash into him and knock him onto the ground. The impact knocking the wind out him his eyes snapped open in surprise to meet the sorrowful eyes of Katase.

Currently her left arm was focused in restraining her dominant sword arm as the blade hovered mere inches over his heart. Their overall position was quite compromising as she straddled his waist in order to pin him down, however he had no time to enjoy the situation as he was but a hairsbreadth away from death.

'H-Help me Naruto-kun'

The serpents seemed quite furious at her latest attempt at resisting them before the one that wrapped itself around her neck seemed to look at him thoughtfully for a moment. It's gaze turning sharp.

 _ **Spiritual Fortitude Perk was triggered**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Perk was triggered**_

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi possession attempt failed.**

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi spiritual strength has been halved.**

Suddenly the snake seemed to hiss in pain before four of the serpents dissipated into nothingness, not really comprehending what had just happened Naruto knew he had to advantage of it. Not wasting any time he used the only thing he had on hand – his smartphone. Aiming it at Katase's shocked face just as she managed to regain partial control of her body he wasted no time and…

Took a picture.

Now usually this would only serve to commemorate an occasion, however he had turned on the flash when he was taking pictures of both girl's files in the nurse's office. From such close proximity this resulted in Katase being temporarily blinded as a result, her hands instinctively going up as she attempted to shield her eyes from the numerous other flashes that followed. He wasn't conservative in his panic.

Seeing that the Orochi was still reeling from the recoil of its failed possession and that it had unconsciously followed Katase's instinctual reaction to shield her eyes he saw his opportunity. There was only a single snake tying down each of her four limbs at the moment which meant that her sword arm was the weakest it had ever been since he encountered her. Taking his chance he grabbed her sword arm, pried her hand open, and took the sword before she could even react.

Instantly he felt as Katase slumped against his chest in exhaustion, she crumbling atop of him like a puppet with its strings cut. The serpents had vanished and all that remained was a very emotionally and physically exhausted girl.

The Kusanagi on the other hand…

* * *

 _ **Spiritual Fortitude Perk was triggered**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Perk was triggered**_

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi possession attempt failed.**

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi spiritual strength has been halved.**

* * *

 _ **Spiritual Fortitude Perk was triggered**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Perk was triggered**_

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi possession attempt failed.**

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi spiritual strength has been halved.**

* * *

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi does not have enough spiritual strength to attempt possession.**

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi does not have enough spiritual strength to attempt possession.**

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi does not have enough spiritual strength to attempt possession.**

 **Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi does not have enough spiritual strength to…**

* * *

'This fucking sword!'

The message kept repeating endlessly, the damned sword seemed keen to spite him even if it couldn't possess him. He wouldn't humor its attempts, he already knew how to shut it up, after all it couldn't do shit if he wasn't holding it.

Too tired to bother he simply threw the sword across the roof before he continued to lie on his back, the emotional and mental exhaustion of the whole thing having taken a far greater toll on him than he had expected. However now that he had saved Katase he couldn't help but feel relieved, he might not have known Katase very well prior to this but following this whole incident he somehow felt closer to her than ever before.

The fact that she was currently lying on his chest definitely wasn't the reason for such a feeling. Not at all.

Hearing the gentle cries coming from Katase as she sobbed into his chest he knew that she had finally regained her bearings. Yet she didn't let go of him, rather she clung even tighter as if he alone could stop her world from falling apart. Her cries steadily increasing in volume as she relived the horror of the last few hours.

Now Naruto wasn't exactly the best at… comforting people. In his not so humble opinion he thought that role was better reserved for someone like Murayama who could understand what Katase was going through. However Murayama wasn't here at the moment and as such it fell to him to help her get through this. Call it a sense of responsibility derived from saving her life.

Awkwardly rubbing her back in what he hoped was a comforting fashion he said the first thing that came to mind, "You are quite the hard girl to get ahold of Katase"

That seemed to have the desired effect as her cries died down before she looked up at him with a confused expression, her tear-stained face making for a heartbreaking sight.

Scratching his face awkwardly at how intently she was staring at him he decided to press on, "You know you look much prettier with a smile, a happy Katase is the best Katase."

She seemed to stare at him blankly for a moment before she broke into a smile at the corniness of it all, the way he said it so seriously all too amusing to her.

"Baka, don't tell me you came all this way to flirt with me with such cheesy pick-up lines" Katase laughed as she looked at him with a sad smile, her thoughts far too burdened to smile from the bottom of her heart.

Feeling the flow of the conversation turning in his favor he grew more confident as his smile turned slightly teasing. "Well I mean yeah, what else does a dashing young man such as myself have to do at one in the morning?"

"Sleep"

"…Touché, how about this then; I'm actually a nighttime vigilante that hunts down supernatural beings from another world. Ever since I was young I could see ghosts, setting me apart from other kids my age. However one day my life completely changed when I uncovered the existence of hungry and tormented spirits that prey upon the innocent, those vengeful spirits are known to humans as…hollows."

"That's the plot summary for Bleach!" Katase tsukkomied, the fact that she had almost believed him for a moment due to her own personal experience far more embarrassing than she would admit.

"So you do like anime…interesting, here I thought you were the kendo princess of Kuoh. To think that such an upright studious girl is really a closet otaku. For shame Katase-chan." Naruto rebuked with a fake disappointed expression, he inwardly amused that even now that Katase had stopped crying she had made no effort to get off of him.

Maybe Katase wasn't just an otaku but a closet pervert too. They certainly had a lot in common if that was the case.

Katase however could barely follow the conversation as Naruto transitioned from one thing to another so quickly it barely gave her time to think. One moment he was flirting with her and the next he was calling her an otaku, yet the conversation felt so natural that it startled her. It was as if they had been friends for years, rather than classmates that barely talked to one another.

"I-Its mainstream, everyone knows about Bleach even if they don't watch anime." Katase weakly defended herself as one of her most well-kept secrets came out to light.

"Oh really, then _Katase_ what sort of anime do you consider not to be mainstream? Unless of course you consider all anime that aren't a part of pop culture to be trash…" Naruto said as he trailed off at the end, leaving the meaning clear that if she didn't say anything then all other anime were garbage.

"W-well…I really liked Madoka Magica…" Katase admitted as she shyly defended one of her favorite anime from being called trash.

"Hmm, did you say something? Speak up Katase, the wind is louder than you." Naruto said in an all too annoying fashion.

"I said that I like Puella Magi Madoka Magica! I was raised on magical girl cartoons so I can appreciate what they did with the show!" A flushed Katase exclaimed, she speaking out with all the protectiveness of a lioness protecting her young.

"Madoka Magica huh…never heard of it" Naruto dismissively proclaimed as he turned away from her, leaving a flustered and disbelieving Katase in his wake.

"What do you mean you haven't heard of it? It may not necessarily have been one of the most popular of anime, but it was still pretty well received." Katase said in disbelief, surprised that the boy in front of her hadn't even heard of it.

"How could I have heard of it? I mean it's not mainstream and I haven't heard anyone mention it so it must obviously be trash."

"Madoka Magica is not trash, it is an underappreciated piece of art that is as overlooked as the Monogatari series. If anything it's the fault of mainstream anime that such amazing works are often overlooked. After all even an idiot can understand the plot of Bleach but it takes some intellect to comprehend the subtle references of anime like Madoka Magica and the Monogatari series." Katase said as she went full blown defensive mode, driving her finger into his chest to accentuate her points as she graced him with the cutest frown he had ever seen.

Leaning closer to her she backed off in surprise as she was suddenly reminded of their close proximity, their faces only inches apart he looked at her with a serious expression.

"W-what, you want to fight?" Katase asked a tad bit apprehensive about the sudden shift in mood, maybe she been a bit too vocal about her opinions.

"I'm sorry…"

'What…'

"I'm sorry for not being a little bit faster. I'm sorry for not knowing what to say. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the happily ever after you wanted…and most of all I'm sorry that I never got to know how amazing you were." Naruto said softly as he rested a hand gently over her cheek, it only taking her a moment to realize what he meant.

He had been too late.

Resting her hand atop his own as tears started to flow freely down her face she couldn't help but feel her emotions get the better of her, however different from her previous sorrow and heartbreak all she could feel now was regret.

Like a shooting star he had shown up out of the blue and brought light to her dark world, playing the part of her knight in shining armor he had exceeded her every expectation. He was silly, funny, and kind. He had resonated with her in a way she could hardly describe. They could have been friends…perhaps even something more if given the chance. Her vision darkening she couldn't help but gaze into his sapphire blue eyes as her thoughts drifted to a tomorrow that couldn't be.

This was goodbye.

"Don't cry, you look prettier with a smile…so won't you smile for me Katase." Naruto whispered as he too grew teary eyed, his heart bleeding at this loss for reasons he could hardly understand.

'No, I don't want to go. I want to stay…'

Such heartfelt cries remained silent as she graced him with the brightest smile she could muster amidst her tears.

'So damn beautiful' Naruto thought at the sight before him, it was his sin to see this smile fade.

"You will always be my biggest what if…" Naruto admitted, his voice nothing more than a whisper.

"As will you be mine" Katase admitted surprising the blonde, before his eyes softened in understanding as he looked at her tear streaked face.

'I see, I think I now understand why the system assigned me such an unreasonable quest…'

Before they knew it the distance between the two became non-existent as their lips met in a tender and innocent kiss. This short three hour romance…he would take it to heart. He had never been as afraid to open his eyes as he was at this moment, the fear that she would be gone by the time he did so enough to take his breath away.

There were so many things left unsaid, however that one kiss helped express their thoughts much more than any number of words seemed capable of.

Breaking the kiss what he heard her whisper in his ear was a thousand times better than a thousand farewells, far more meaningful than a mere goodbye.

"Thank you…"

Just like that Katase shattered in his arms, she turning into motes of light as her body overburdened by the power that only a god could properly wield finally gave way. Knowing it was coming made it no less painful when it happened.

This was their game over.

Opening his eyes he found himself alone, the stars overhead the sole witness of what had transpired here tonight. Sitting up he couldn't help but feel older, as if his childish nature had perished along with the girl that had stolen his first kiss. A tad bit more mature because of what he went through he couldn't help but feel resentful over the situation, he had given it his all yet it wasn't enough.

He felt angry. Angry at himself for being too late, angry at the system for assigning him such a bullshit quest, and angry at Katase for being so amazing that he couldn't help but feel like this in the first place. It just wasn't fair.

He should be stronger than this…so why was it that he couldn't stop crying? Why was he falling apart over a girl he hardly knew? He shouldn't feel this way, yet it felt as if he lost something today. As if Katase had taken a part of him along with her when she went to greet her parents in the afterlife.

If he could have another chance at doing all this over again he would make things right, such a foolish thought flittered across his mind before he fell into sorrowful contemplation.

He would move past this and be a better man for it, he had some real introspection to go through when he got home. He had hidden behind his shell of a persona for far too long, trying to live up to others expectations while in the public eye. No longer! From now on he would be himself regardless of what others thought!

This power he had…it could help people and prevent tragedies like what transpired today. If he had this power even six hours earlier not only could he have saved Katase but maybe even her parents as well. It was painful…so very painful to experience such loss and he never wanted to go through something like this ever again.

Be it for better or worse this was his new reality.

Life wasn't a game, it was his mistake to treat it as such. Everyone loses at some point, the important thing was what one took away from failure.

Slapping his cheeks as he got ahold of himself, he buried his feelings and regret deep inside as all men learned to do and stood up. A small part of his mind whispered to him that everything that had transpired tonight didn't make sense…that it was likely nothing more than a dream and that he would wake up tomorrow and see Katase sitting at her desk just like yesterday.

But he knew…that kiss was enough to overturn all notion that this was a dream.

It was time to go home, he would test his luck with the next quest that the system assigned him. He would just treat this as the lesson the system likely intended it to be.

Walking towards the stairs leading down from the roof he idly thought on how all this damage to the school would be handled. Well considering the massive ravine now cutting across the school it was likely that it would be treated as a natural disaster. School would likely be suspended and everyone would probably have to relocate while repairs were underway. How troublesome…

Just as he took the first step down the stairs however the sound of the system rang across his ears.

 **Katase (Lover)**

 **Passion Level 4**

 **Sentiment Max**

 **+5000 affection**

 **+5 love points**

Naruto's eyes widened at the sudden announcement, her name may be grayed out but it was definitely Katase! The system had awarded him for advancing his relationship with her to a higher level, now he wasn't sure about the whole lover designation as they had only shared a single kiss but he wasn't complaining. Also if the system was registering the advancement in their relationship then it would stand to reason…

 **Mission 2: The Beginning** **Completed!**

 **Mission Awards:**

 **Title – Mortal Savior**

 **Katase**

 **Additional Rewards:**

 _ **Titles:**_

 **Title – The Strategist**

 **Title – Heart Breaker**

 _ **Perks:**_

 **Perk – The Savior**

 **Perk – Disposition of the Ancients**

 _ **Item/Other:**_

 **Item – Ama no Murakumo no Tsurugi (Sealed)**

 **3 Achievements Unlocked – Trophy viewer has been updated**

 **Scene Unlocked – Kuoh Academy (Night)**

 **Stats Points distributed**

 **Error**

 **Error**

 **Error**

 **Error**

 **Error**

 **Error: Award Katase is currently unavailable. Request replacement or challenge query in order to continue.**

His grin was so large it threatened to split his face, he knew the system wouldn't let him down! Replacement? A person couldn't be replaced! Katase was irreplaceable!

Game Over? Ha, it was only round two!

Punching the button that said to challenge query, he saw as the world suddenly seemed to pause in response as a loading screen appeared in front of him.

 **Query challenged – Claim made over award Katase against Admin.**

 **Primordial Death has accepted the challenge.**

 **Mission 3: The Darkest Night – Nightfall**

 _ **Survive for Eight Hours**_

 **Rewards: **

**Katase (Undying)**

 **Heavenly Law – Death**

 _ **Titles:**_

 **Title: The Anomaly**

 **Title: Heaven Defying**

 **Title: Survivor**

 **Title: Mortal God**

 **Title: Subjugator of Reapers**

 _ **Perks:**_

 **Perk: Death's Favor – Resistance to Instant Death**

 **Perk: Eyes of the Shinigami**

 **Perk: Subjugator of Reapers**

 **Perk: False Death**

 **Perk: Immolation**

 **Perk: The Anomaly**

 _ **Items/Other:**_

 **Item: Death's Robe Fragment**

 **Item: Death's Tears (x3)**

 **Item: Death's Breath (x25)**

 **850000 monie upon completion**

 **50000 affection**

 **20 love points**

Ha, survive eight hours, he could that in his sleep! This went far beyond a mission, this time it was personal! It wasn't because the awesome sounding Mortal God title that he had accepted, not at all! Nor was his decision heavily influenced by the massive amount of rewards that would be given to him if he succeeded. He was a man of upright character, he would not be swayed so easily.

After all just the 850000 monie alone translated to a massive 8.5 million yen...a figure that was awfully tempting. However even amidst the numerous rewards there was no doubt that Katase was first and foremost amongst them, everything else was just a bonus.

He just needed to survive, he would just stick to his policy of running away first and asking questions later while dealing with anything that might be thrown his way. So he only had one thing to say to the blatant challenge…

"Bring it on!"

 **Mission 3: The Darkest Night – Nightfall Accepted**

 **-x-**

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

Naruto finally makes use of that charisma stat as he manages to talk circles around Katase and even steals a kiss from her. Super Effective if I do say myself, the fact that he ate all the stat boosting mints he got from the tutorial prior to confronting her notwithstanding.

Charisma makes others more easily attached to him but it also has the adverse effect of making him more easily attached to others. Double-Edged Sword.

He probably should have increased his intelligence stat a bit more though…Mission Three has to be _ridiculously_ hard to have such good rewards. Needless to say he's probably in for a rude awakening next chapter.

* * *

 **Chapter Notes:** **Flavor Text (Perks and Titles)**

 **Title – Mortal Savior**

 _Description: Your benevolent and magnanimous nature can move the hearts of mortals. You who saved a person against impossible odds has shown a determination that god's would envy and that mortals can't help but admire. You have snatched a person from the jaws of death…_

 **Perk: The Savior**

 **Charisma +5**

Your charm and charisma is twice as effective on mortals. Humans are more easily compelled to listen to you. Missions related to saving others has an increased likelihood of appearing. Standing with Heaven increased. Karma increased **.**

 **-x-**

 **Title: Strategist**

 _Description: Your nerve is such that you can stare death in the face unflinchingly, you who have faced off against foes of far greater power emerged victorious due to your quick wit and intellect. Your intellect can overcome differences in strength, others would do well not to underestimate you. No matter how strong they may be…_

 **Perk – Disposition of the Ancients**

 **Intellect +3**

You have greater mastery over your facial expressions and you can better control the flow of a conversation. Your acting ability has increased. Others are more likely to listen to you and your lies are more easily believed. Your understanding of warfare in general and strategic planning is increased.


	4. Chapter 4: The Empty Doll

**AN:** This is a notice to inform readers that classes have started for me so updates will probably slow down.

* * *

 **Chapter IV**

* * *

 **The Empty Doll**

 **-x-**

Pain…it made up the entirety of Naruto's world. It was his heaven and hell, filling his senses to the brim he could only let it overflow in the form of screams and tears. Through bleary eyes he could see as the stars fell like raindrops from the sky, the sky silently parting before him like the curtains to a grand play of which he was the sole witness. His hand feeling like it was on fire he could only gaze dumbfounded at the sight before him.

Having devoured the moon in the sky there stood a window to nothingness, a spiraling vortex of such grand magnificence that all who cast their eyes upon it instinctively knew that they were gazing at something that shouldn't exist. No living being should hold life in the presence of death yet he alone still drew breath.

 **Primordial Death has descended to the mortal plane.**

 **Stage: Kuoh Academy (Night) has been elevated to a higher world for the duration of Mission 3.**

 **[New] Stage: Kuoh Academy (Purgatorium)**

Feeling the pain on his left hand finally diminish he looked down upon it only to find a strange seal seared into his flesh.

 **Death Mark (8 Hours) – You have been branded by death, despair all who hold the mark as death will soon follow.**

The description his Divine Vision picked up was pretty grim and caused a feeling of foreboding to build in his heart. His hand trembling as he cradled it to his chest he cast his eyes once more towards the spiraling white vortex in the sky, he didn't know why but he expected death to be more corporeal in a sense. Like the grim reaper from legend with his hooded black cloak and skeletal appearance, honestly even a guy holding a scythe would do.

Maybe Bleach had spoiled him to death gods and how they should look badass.

 **[Death God's Sigh] has been used by Primordial Death.**

 **Primordial Death has breathed into a lower world.**

As the notification rang out a white mist seemed to emerge from the vortex, it spiraling down as it twisted and writhed like a snake as it bore down on him. However before he could even have a chance to feel offended at the seemingly halfhearted attack his world exploded into a sea of notifications.

* * *

 _ **Spiritual Fortitude Activated – Soul Destruction attempt failed.**_

 _ **Spiritual Fortitude Activated – Soul Desecration attempt failed.**_

 _ **Spiritual Fortitude Activated – Soul Devour attempt failed.**_

 _ **Spiritual Fortitude Activated – Soul Absorption attempt failed.**_

 _ **Spiritual Fortitude Activated…**_

* * *

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated – Madness attempt failed**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated – Insanity attempt failed**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated – Depression attempt failed**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated – Hell Whispers attempt failed**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated…**_

* * *

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated – Two-Faced God attempt failed**_

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated – Hell Resonance attempt failed**_

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated – Negative Frequency Oscillating attempt failed**_

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated – Rapture of Angels attempt failed**_

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated…**_

* * *

Naruto's eyes widened in horror as hundreds of notifications sounded out, the list scrolling down endlessly as every sort of attack imaginable that wasn't part of the physical spectrum was attempted on his being. If it weren't for those three perks he would be dead dozens of times over by now…

Gazing at the mist in quickly growing horror he came to realize that all this was without it even touching him. All those status effects were derived solely from its mere presence. There was no way…he can't win. He can't survive against that thing for eight hours!

* * *

 _ **The Almighty (Debuff) successful – All stats lowered to lowest possible denominator to sustain life – 1**_

 _ **Heavenly Tribulation successful – Death is permanent and the heavens conspire against you**_

 _ **Hidden Skill Acquired: Beneath The Eyes of Gods –You are 50% easier for higher beings to overlook**_

 _ **Hidden Skill Acquired: Overbearing Mortal – You are immune to the pressure of higher beings**_

 _ **Hidden Skill Acquired: Challenger of Creation – The god in you stirs…**_

* * *

His luck had run out, a few status effects made it past the safety net his perks provided him. Instantly he felt as his body lost all strength and his breathing grew labored and painful. He needed to run away…to hide. However his body protested towards his every action, the stat decrease allowed him to keep his life but it was to a point so close to death that killing him would nearly be a mercy.

Only the sharp pain in his hand reminded him of the task at hand and helped him keep a cool head, his new **Disposition of the Ancients Perk** working in overdrive as he came to the conclusion that his body was unaltered. This sense of weakness was derived from the system limiting his preexisting attributes, he wasn't truly uglier or less charming it was just others would perceive him that way. If that was the case then while his strength was lowered to 1 it didn't mean that his muscles and bone structure would instantly become frail, it would simply revert to default. He simply _felt_ weaker.

Coming to this conclusion Naruto knew he had to get inside before the mist fell over the school, turning around he took a step only to nearly have his entire leg give out from under him.

'What the hell is this!?' Naruto cried inwardly as his leg went numb, it was like his brain couldn't control his body properly, as if his own arms and legs didn't belong to him.

'The intelligence stat!' He thought in realization before he dumbly raised a hand to his throat as he found that he couldn't speak, 'I'm not smart enough to talk anymore…'

"Aauugh" Naruto tried to speak only to let loose a guttural cry, tears brimming at the corner of his eyes as he found himself incapable of the simplest of actions only then did he understand the real repercussions that such a system held in store for him. He was trapped inside of his own body, stripped of the barest of human decencies he couldn't even fight the death that was coming for him.

However he couldn't give up, he couldn't allow death to win with a mere breath. He tried to tell himself that this was all in his head, that none of it was real, however his body refused to comply with him. Bound by some higher power that he wielded but hadn't truly even begun to understand.

Fear seized his heart, his breath still as painful as ever quickened as his eyes darted towards the approaching cloud of death that was threatening to blanket Kuoh in a curtain of mist. He needed to get indoors but he didn't even remember how to walk anymore and his body couldn't even support his own body weight properly.

He was going to die and he couldn't even run away from it, this sort of scenario was impossible to overcome. How can he fight death when he can't even win the fight for his own body?

 _ **The god in you stirs…**_

No, he can't give up.

… _ **others would do well not to underestimate you. No matter how strong they may be…**_

He would win.

He took a step forward, then another, his entire body shaking he struggled simply to remain upright as sweat trickled down his brow. His legs shaking he glared at the stairway that would lead him to safety as he mustered all the strength he had left.

"Aauugh!" Naruto bellowed as he took one last step before his entire body collapsed on itself as his legs gave way, he nearly crashing headfirst onto the ground if his hands hadn't shot out on instinct to stop his fall. His eyes widening at the instinctual action as realization dawned on him.

What the mind forgot the body remembers. Instincts we are born with cannot be denied.

Fire burning in his eyes he gazed forward with newfound determination and stretched one hand out…and then another…and another. As he shuffled forward on his hands and knees Naruto _crawled_ towards the exit, his hands groping the ground blindly as the world around him grew blurry due to his decreased perception stat.

'Take away my ability to talk…I will think. Take away my ability to walk…I will crawl. Take away my ability to see…I will feel. I…will…not…lose!'

So as to let it be said that even the most helpless human can stand to defy fate Naruto made his way to safety, baby step by baby step. His gait slow and his strength feeble he didn't give up as he made his way to the stairs, death slowly encroaching down on him from above.

Every second endless, every breath precious, the beating of his own heart in his ears was the sole marker he counted on as he knew that the moment he lost he would never hear it beat again. Rivulets of sweat streaming down his face as his decreased strength and endurance protested against even such a simplistic action as crawling, he couldn't even stop to wipe at his eyes as he knew that if he stopped now he wouldn't be able to find the strength to go on.

It was then that as he was crawling forwards that his hand suddenly caught empty air, his eyes only having a moment to widen in shock as he tilted forwards at the unexpected lack of contact. Only then did he remember his luck stat had also decreased to 1.

He had reached the flight of stairs.

-x-

Stumbling down the flight of stairs Naruto hit his head on the third step down, broke his nose on the seventh, and nearly fractured his wrist on the twelfth. By the time he reached the landing at the bottom of the stairs he was covered in bruises and the bone over the bridge of his nose was broken with blood streaming down both nostrils and out of the nasal fracture. The only saving grace was that the impact to the back of his head temporarily made him black out making the experience far more bearable than it would have been otherwise.

Both his left wrist which he had landed on the twelfth step and his broken nose were sure to start swelling shortly, yet as much as he wanted to he simply couldn't find the strength to head to the nurse's office. He felt so weak and everything hurt so much that he felt like he was dying. The ringing in his ears wouldn't stop as black spots continued to dance across his vision, every little bruise felt as if it came from a sledgehammer and he couldn't even feel his face anymore.

It hurt…it hurt so much that he wanted to die. The pain of surviving such a fall with his endurance being only a tenth that of an average person was similar to if a senior citizen was ran over by a bus going forty miles an hour. He knew the massive amounts of pain his brain was perceiving was being amplified by the system but at this moment he didn't care – to him the pain was real. The fact that his head felt like he had experienced falling headfirst nearly thirty feet when he hit that stone step and he couldn't die was torture enough.

"Auuhh…auuhh…aau…!"

So Naruto did the only thing he could in that situation – he cried. He cried because of the pain. He cried because of fear. He cried as everything that had happened over last few hours hit him all at once, but most of all he cried because that was all he could do. He wanted to close his eyes and wish that everything would disappear. That when he opened them next he would be waking up in his bed at home same as ever, but the pain served to remind him that this was all too real.

He wanted to go home.

He wanted to see his mom.

He wanted to wrap himself in a blanket and forget all about the outside world until dawn came and the sun brought light back into this bleak and god forsaken world. At that moment he didn't care about Katase, the system, or any half-baked reward rather he only cared about one thing…himself.

However all the things he desired were more than a world away… If he ever wanted to see his home or family ever again he needed to survive and complete the third mission. He needed to be strong.

Blinking the spots out of his eyes he continued to lie on the floor for a few more seconds before he reached a hand up to the back of his head and pulled it away to find it covered in blood. He needed to get that taken care off...

Suddenly his eyes widened as he caught sight of the timer for the third mission and his composure cracked like an egg. His mouth opened and closed in mute horror for a moment before a tormented scream parted his lips just as Death God's Sigh impacted the school and spread across the entirety of Kuoh Academy.

 **Survive 7h 56min…**

 **-x-**

He couldn't do it, he had to get away…he had nearly died after _four_ minutes, he couldn't survive for eight hours. Groping along the walls as he supported his frail body Naruto knew that he had underestimated the difficulty of what he was attempting, he had been overconfident over his slim success with Katase and acted on impulse. His emotions running high and the feeling of invulnerability that he had ever since he got the system reaching its proverbial peak he had acted without thought for consequence.

A little part of his mind had throughout the whole ordeal reminded him that none of this was real. That a dream no matter how lucid or vivid it may seem was still limited by the constraints of his imagination and rooted in fantasy…

The pain that he felt now was beyond anything he could possibly imagine. The feeling of helplessness akin to being an ant that had stepped into a world of giants. The regret at his own actions enough to nearly cause him to question his own sanity. Wishing this was a dream was as naïve and foolish a thought as considering killing himself to wake up – suicidal at worst and delusional at best.

Death remained unperturbed at his suffering, in fact it did not act beyond initially releasing its breath. He wasn't sure if it thought him to have perished in the wake of its initial attack or that it knew something that he himself didn't, but he knew that if he didn't take this opportunity he wouldn't have a chance to try again later.

Naruto had figured out that if he shimmied along the wall he would be able to support his body and move faster than he would if he attempted to crawl on the floor. Shimming also didn't tempt him to give up as much as crawling in that it didn't constantly make him feel as if he should just lie down and go to sleep.

Each meter was hard earned and at the moment he was still indecisive over if he should attempt to hide or run away. Truly he wanted to run away but considering the state of his body he didn't know how far he could make it without collapsing. He distinctively remembered that the stage of this conflict was set to Kuoh Academy so it stands to reason that if he could leave Kuoh Academy then he would escape his confrontation with death. However that might just be him drawing at straws, after all he didn't even know the nature of the conflict let alone the rules that applied to it.

However the fact that Death wasn't following up his initial attack gave him a sliver of hope that he could actually win this if he simply waited long enough. On top of that he had started to better figure out how to manage his newly weakened body and he was hopeful that he could figure out how to walk again soon. If all he had to do was survive for eight hours in this weakened state he could see himself winning this hands down.

As it was he would simply retrace his steps coming into the school and if death didn't follow up on its initial attack by the time he reached the faculty room he would head towards the nurse's office, patch himself up, and try to wait it out there.

If he won then the debuff would likely disappear and he could make his way home safely, in his current state it would be a momentous task simply to cross the street let alone make it all the way home. He couldn't ride his bike like this and his house was several blocks away, he would likely collapse from exhaustion with his current endurance long before he made it home.

Refocusing on the task at hand he continued making his way down the hall step by step, after all it was better to be cautious with death looming over him…

-x-

'So far so good…'

Things had luckily progressed as Naruto had hoped, Death had not followed up its initial attack as he made his way across the school. It had already been over ten minutes and he was happy to have found that he could even break away from the wall and rush two to three steps before once more leaning against the wall for support. This had ultimately sped up his progress a good deal, sure he had to take some breaks every once in a while due to him quickly running out of stamina but he could spare a few seconds at the moment.

He had already passed his homeroom a while ago and taken a short break there and he was already looking forward to the art room so that he could do the same. The faculty offices were shortly after the art room so if nothing went wrong then he would simply need to head to the nurse's office located next to them. After that it would simply be a waiting game. If death made a move he would have to leave the nurse's office, make his way down _another_ flight of stairs, head outside using the previously opened door and…he didn't know what he would do then.

The whole school was walled off and he doubted being able to scale the wall, his only option was propping something against the wall like he did with his bike. However in his current state such a thing would be difficult if not downright impossible, even _if_ he did make it over the wall and managed to prevent any injury from the fall – what then? How far could he truly make it in his current state?

Shaking his head free of such thoughts he continued to press onwards, his eyes darting at the timer once more.

 **7h 42min remaining**

It was definitely a lot of time but as long as Death didn't press its advantage he should be fine. Seeing the art room he smiled, fumbling towards it he grasped the handle and opened the door. It was difficult as his hands didn't want to move like he wanted them to, but with his weight against the door and repeated fiddling with the handle it finally gave way.

Still gripping the handle for support as he stepped in he immediately drew in a sharp breath as his eyes widened in disbelief.

*clank*

The mannequins…they had moved.

Cannibalizing each other for parts they had fused together with some type of artificial red muscle connecting the joints to the main body. Of the six mannequins only three remained intact as they helped construct this amalgamation of limbs.

As it was the amalgamations' appearance was similar to a spider. Its length being three torso's long and with a tail that was literally just two arms fused together with an open grasping hand. It had six arms, six soon to be eight legs, and two of its many arms held the two heads of the mannequins that had already been cannibalized.

'What…?'

His Divine Vision activated out of shock.

 **Possessed Mannequin – A toy brought to life by Death's Breath**

 **Possessed Mannequin – A toy brought to life by Death's Breath**

 **Possessed Mannequin – A toy brought to life by Death's Breath**

 **Amalgamation – A perversion of life, animated by Death's Breath it holds no soul and exists in the absence of death. Born to claim the life of Naruto Uzumaki it holds no other purpose.**

It all suddenly made sense…the reason that death had not pressed its advantage after its initial attack. It wasn't that it couldn't attack or thought him dead, it was that it held no need to – the die was already cast.

*clank*

As one the mannequins turned towards him at his intrusion. Their pale faces gazing towards him expressionlessly they halted mid-motion as they regarded him. The standoff continued for a moment longer before each of them put down what they held in their hands and with a synchronized motion pointed their index finger at him.

* * *

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated – Insanity attempt failed**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated – Psychosis attempt failed**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated – Terror attempt failed**_

 _ **Mental Fortitude Activated…**_

* * *

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated – Room 587 attempt failed**_

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated – Endless Corridor attempt failed**_

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated – A Land Called Dementia attempt failed**_

 _ **Constitutional Fortitude Activated…**_

* * *

Naruto slammed the door shut.

'Fuck…that…shit' Naruto thought to himself as he stumbled away from the door as quickly as his weakened body could go. It was time to leave Kuoh.

-x-

As Naruto exited the school something that became readily apparent was the number of 'accidents' that happened along the way. A spilled container here, a small power shortage there, it truly felt as if the world was conspiring to see he him dead. The water that had spilled down the stairs from a broken water fountain had been especially perilous in the dark. He had to basically slide down the stairs as he wasn't sure he could survive another fall like that again.

The good news was that he was getting used to using his limbs in his current state and he could walk for short periods of time now. The sensation was similar to trying to control your limbs when they were numb and if he wasn't careful he could injure himself or trip, but it was much better than crawling everywhere.

By the time he exited the building the power was gone, there was a fire in the administrative offices that had caused the sprinklers to go off, and he had nearly broken his neck due to one of the girl's bathrooms having flooded the corridor. It seemed as if the entire school had gone to hell and his Divine Vision had identified [Death's Breath] as the cause, of course the fact that his luck stat had been decreased to 1 also didn't help.

The paranormal nature of Death's Breath seemed capable of possessing everything and anything simply to kill you. The only advantage he held was that he was mobile while most of the inanimate objects that had been influenced by Death's Breath were stationary…aside from the mannequins that is.

Luckily the mannequins hadn't bothered to make chase as he believed they went back to doing what they were doing before which was making that weird mannequin monster. Hopefully he would be long gone by the time they finished.

As for the stationary it could only really attack him using series of chain events, such as the fire causing the sprinklers to go off which nearly resulted in him slipping several times. The 'good' thing about these were that when a chain event set off he could usually spot it if it was ongoing and if it was premeditated he just needed to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. Basically as long as he was vigilant and the murderous nature of Death's Breath didn't hit extremes he would always be one step ahead.

Stepping out of the school he wasted no time heading towards the front gate, he having liberated the keys from the faculty offices. His gait was awkward and if he wasn't careful he feared that he might accidentally sprain an ankle, yet he couldn't afford to go any slower than he already was. A sprained ankle was a small price to pay if it saved his life.

Unlocking the gate was the easy part. Having to open it in his current state however was an entirely different matter. The gate was heavy and only after landing on his butt more than once trying to open it was he successful in doing so, this already being quite the feat considering how little of his actual strength he could use.

Yet as he reached the edge of the school he hesitated. About a meter from the gate the mist became so thick he could barely see anything with his decreased perception, his senses warning him not to take that next step. No matter how much he strained his eyes all he could see was the milky white before him.

A sense of unease filling him he gazed at the empty expanse for a moment before he bent down and picked up a small stone at his feet. Gazing for a moment thoughtfully at this most unassuming of pebbles he looked back into the empty expanse and proceeded to throw the pebble as far as his weakened constitution would allow him to. What followed defied all known logic.

The stone flew for only about a meter before it completely lost momentum and started falling…upwards.

'What the hell…'

Seeing the rock he had just thrown completely disregard physics Naruto could only stare dumbfounded upon witnessing this perversion of nature. What lied beyond the school in all directions was an empty white expanse where nothing existed…not even logic. It was only then that he remembered the words that heralded Death's arrival.

 **Stage: Kuoh Academy (Night) has been elevated to a higher world for the duration of Mission 3.**

 **[New] Stage: Kuoh Academy (Purgatorium)**

He…he wasn't on Earth anymore. Death had taken the entire stage of Kuoh Academy to another world. Escape? Where was he going to escape to when he was in a world where nothing other than this death trap of a school existed!?

He couldn't run away, he couldn't forfeit, and he couldn't reset. Truly Naruto could only survive through all eight hours…or die.

-x-

Having returned to the school Naruto had quickly come to find that he couldn't stay put in any one place for an extended period of time. This was because if he lingered around a certain location for too long then Death's Breath would start to accumulate in that area and the chance for him to survive significantly decreased. After trial and error Naruto had calculated that he had around fifteen minutes he could spend in any one location before it got to a point where it could potentially endanger his life. This meant he could spent upwards to a maximum of around twelve minutes before he had to leave a location for his own safety.

The solution he had come up for this was simple. Move across the first floor of the school all the way to the west wing doing stops where necessary along the way as he got out of range of the current accumulation of Death's Breath. Then once he reached the end of the west wing go up the stairs and repeat the process while heading towards the east wing. Then once he reached the end of the east wing go down the stairs and back to the first floor and head towards the west wing again – rinse and repeat.

As long as he could continue to pin down its location by giving it tail to chase and running away he could predict when the Death's Breath was coming. The telltale signs were always there when Death's Breath reached the area as certain items would start shaking or rolling as they were slowly animated. That was his cue to leave.

The premeditated traps were predictable and he could usually outmaneuver them with only one incident having nearly resulted in injury. This being when a door collapsed on him when he was leaving one of the rooms. Either way his system was proven effective by how much time had passed so far without incident.

 **7h 13min remaining...**

Yet as he staggered down the hall now he was forced to acknowledge his inability of trying to predict death. Minutes ago his predictions were blown out of the water as death approached from all sides breaking the pattern he had thought it had established as it gave him chase. The reality this presented to him much scarier than the thought of inanimate objects trying to kill him.

Death's Breath was getting smarter.

Don't ask him to explain how an attack that had initially been nothing more than a breath could possess the necessary sentience to wield intellect. If he knew such an answer he would rather know how it was capable of animating inanimate objects in the first place. The fact was that it wasn't blindly chasing him anymore and its traps had become more cunning with every attempt at his life.

His one advantage that was his human intellect was slowly being overcome as it grew more intelligent with each attempt at his life. It could learn, it could think, and most frightening of all…

It could hunt.

-x-

"Ha…ha…ha…"

Naruto greedily gulped down air after his most recent brush with death, it had blocked one of the doors and started a fire inside the room. If it wasn't for him having managed to regain enough control over his body to ram the door open he would have died.

It still hurt like hell though due to his decreased endurance.

'I need to gain a bigger lead on death, I can't allow it to catch up.'

Thinking so to himself Naruto decided to press his advantage at the moment rather than taking another break. From now on he wanted to be on the other side of the school before giving tail. Death seemed more than capable of chasing him regardless.

*Clink…*

*Clink*Clink*Clink…*

*Clink…*

*Clink*Clink*Clink…*

Just as he was about to leave however he heard a tapping sound, like nails on chalkboard it grated on his ears and filled the quiet with its desire to be acknowledged. Curious, incessant, annoying…all these words could accurately describe that sound. Yet why was it…why did it filled him with such a sense of dread that it caused his heart stop dead in his chest upon hearing it?

Mechanically turning his head towards the source of the sound Naruto found himself looking towards the windows that lined the hall only for his eyes to widen in terror as a strangled cry died in his throat. The source of the sound was fingernails tapping against glass, incessantly repeating the same steady rhythm over and over again.

'No, this isn't fair…they couldn't have completed it already!'

There tapping against the glass with a perpetual smile on its countenance was a white face, set on ivory shoulders and an alabaster frame it gazed towards him unseeingly as two hands pressed against the glass. With a halo of assorted limbs it's decidedly female upper body stretched to accommodate the numerous conjoined torso that followed.

The patchwork monster had four long gangly limbs that served as its main form of mobility, two other sets of arms on its back and front respectively, and a long elongated tail grasping a single unseeing mannequin head. Two other arms served to hold another pair of heads that it used to constantly monitor its sides, the rests of its limbs being neatly folded into its body. With the red artificial muscle now only slightly visible at the joints and its figure looking reminiscent of a spider or centipede the Amalgamation was complete. Ready to carry out its intended task.

For a moment the standoff continued in silence, the Amalgamation having stopped its incessant tapping upon garnering his attention. It simply looked at him…a dark thought coming to mind upon seeing this.

Just now the Amalgamation could have killed him and he would have never known. As a construct of Death it could likely render him lifeless with just a mere touch let alone the fact it could likely tear apart a weak little human like him in mere seconds. It was as simple as reaching through the glass and tearing off his head while he caught his breath…yet it had drawn his attention instead.

Its purpose was surely to kill him, after all his Divine Vision had assured him of that fact. So why?

The thoughts that came to mind weren't comforting and as they settled upon a single dreadful conclusion…he knew fear. Seeing his own thinking mirrored in the monster before him he couldn't help but grimace at this most cruel irony.

 _A game is more fun with more players._

Seeing the monster before him cover its eyes with its porcelain hands he instantly knew that it would kill him the moment it opened them again. A perverse game of hide and seek, it who could kill him at any moment wanted to enjoy the experience of hunting him down. Like a cat played with its food it wanted to tease him to death as he struggled to survive.

He wasted no time as he ran as fast as his weakened body would allow him, yet he knew that no matter how far he ran…no matter how well he hid…it would always only be a step behind. Lying in wait for that perfect moment to express onto him the futility of running away. His resistance was a game, his attempts to survive humorous, his determination nothing more than mere stubbornness.

Yet he will continue to run. To hide. For when confronted with death that was all he could do.

The sound of glass shattering behind him signaled the start of this game, the Amalgamation using its many limbs to pull itself inside the school as its body filled the corridor. Looking at Naruto's retreating figure it felt a sense of purpose fill it and it knew that it had made the right choice. It would enjoy this hunt…

-x-

Two hours…he had been running for two hours and his body was already on the verge of collapse. That damned monstrosity seemed capable of seeing through walls as it located him with startling ease every damn time. It never ran rather it made chase at a moderate pace and seemed to be in no rush to kill him, however should he grow complacent…it would tear a room apart simply to drive him out.

It wanted to enjoy its game of cat and mouse to the fullest and a mouse that didn't scurry away in fear was nothing more than a waiting corpse.

' _So scurry little mouse, hurry to hide…for I'll soon catch up and eat you alive. No matter how much you run, no matter how well you hide...in the end we all die.'_

Death was closing in. Between the perverse games of the Amalgamation and the constant threat of Death's Breath Naruto was nearing his breaking point. The only reason he still drew breath in the first place was due to the sick games of the Amalgamation as it could have already killed him a dozen times over by now. It seemed inclined to prolong the experience as long as possible before actually killing him…he was sure it would make his death a slow and painful one as well.

*Crash*

Naruto was quick to duck behind a table as the door was blasted off its hinges by the multi-limbed monstrosity that was the Amalgamation. Quieting his breathing to a barely audible level he cast his eyes towards the blazer that he had previously placed on the back of a chair as he waited for the perfect moment to escape.

The room was dark and the shadows long and ominous. Yet as the monster calmly entered the room, its massive body barely managing to fit through the door frame, the room grew ever darker. Its presence suffocating, it took long deliberate steps while it glanced around with all the innate curiosity of a child as it searched for him. Its many heads twisting this way and that as it searched.

This pattern had repeated before and he knew that if it didn't find him after thirty seconds of entering a room, it would proceeded to throw a tantrum and tear the room apart. In the girl's locker room it had nearly crushed the locker he had been hiding in at the time and he only managed to escape due to it having passed his locker before starting its tantrum.

The Amalgamation would catch up to him in the halls in no time and as such he was often forced to hide in rooms both to regain his stamina and to buy some time. Upon getting cornered in a room the Amalgamation would give him thirty seconds to hide before it would barge through the door and search the room. This meant that a room could buy him a minute of respite max, not including the tantrum.

In the rooms they would play hide and seek, if his hiding spot wasn't good enough it would kill him. In the halls they would play tag and if he got caught it would kill him. The rules were straightforward and the games intuitive.

He hated to say it but for the most part the Amalgamation was fair, however as a human he had certain limitations that the Amalgamation simply didn't possess and no matter how hard he tried…this was never going to be a game he could win.

It didn't afford him much time to rest, only just enough time to hide and even if it lost sight of him it would soon catch up and resume its game. The floor trick that he used on the Death's Breath didn't work on the Amalgamation as it would simply break a window and maneuver itself onto the other floor in the direction he was trying to run to.

As for Death's Breath the chained events were still following closely behind while the premeditated traps had grown progressively more numerous over time. However because of this and the near constant presence of the Amalgamation he had started to unravel the mechanics behind how it was tracking him. If he could properly comprehend how the Death's Breath was hunting him down he would be able to properly circumvent it, however in order to do so he had to escape the Amalgamation first and put a good deal of distance between the two.

Since the floor trick didn't work this meant one thing…a dead sprint across the courtyard. If he could distract it and focus its attention elsewhere as it threw it's tantrum he should be able to widen the gap between them considerably. If he could get five – no, three minutes. He could cross over to the other side of the school and escape its constant chase enough to do something…anything. As such he set up a trap and over the last two passes on this room everything had already been put in place. All he needed was to spring it.

30 seconds had passed.

Naruto observed as the Amalgamation stopped before its entire body started to clatter unnaturally, it being an innate sort of expressive function that he determined was likely the equivalent of some sort of emotion. Frustration? Grief maybe? He didn't know, but he knew what it signified…

A tantrum.

'That's it, cry like you always do and then…'

' _Not here…not there…can't find…anywhere? Not fair…he cheats…hide but cannot find…isn't hide and seek.'_

Seeing it grow increasingly agitated he waited for the moment it all hit a boiling point and…

"Hi, this is Naruto Uzumaki…"

' _There!'_

The Amalgamation instantly pounced onto the source of the voice and proceeded to tear the perpetrator to shreds. Yet the blood and screams that should come weren't there and the silence of death did not follow.

"…I'm currently busy at the moment so please leave a message after the tone *beep*"

Naruto wasted no time as he sprinted past the stunned Amalgamation that was gazing dumbly at the now shattered screen of a phone that had been hidden in the inner breast pocket of Naruto's blazer.

Picking up the phone with a dainty hand it looked over it curiously for a moment before realization dawned upon it. The foreign emotion that was anger filling it for the first time in its short existence.

Tricked, it had been tricked.

Crushing the phone in its grasp as it shook in anger the Amalgamation had but a single thought come to mind, its anger completely overwhelming its childish demeanor.

'That…CHEATER!'

Roaring inwardly it wasted no time in making chase as it rushed out of the room at a speed much greater than what it had exhibited thus far. All form of restraint having been discarded in its anger.

Naruto however wasn't running, as he waited for the charging monster to approach he stood his ground in the hall. Waiting ever so patiently for it to draw closer…

Only when the Amalgamation was about to crash into him after bursting through the door did he jump to the side just as it barreled past. Its many hands quickly reached out to stop itself as its initial charge failed yet it found itself unable to secure a foothold. Its numerous limbs slipped out from under it and its momentum continued unimpeded as it crashed through the window and into the darkness below...

Making sure not to slip on the cleaning chemicals he had purposely spilled in the entryway Naruto looked out the window in disbelief. It worked…he could hardly believe his plan had actually worked.

Normally the Amalgamation wouldn't have made such a simple mistake however having seen its behavior over the last two hours Naruto had determined that it possessed some degree of emotion. As such he believed that if he got it agitated enough it would eventually fall prey to its own underdeveloped emotions.

Having specifically chosen this room due to its proximity to a janitorial closet and its ideal location on the second floor he could honestly say as he looked down upon the broken form of the Amalgamation down below that his plan was a success.

Having shattered on impact the Amalgamation's limbs laid strewn over the courtyard, its body broken and scattered. Yet before Naruto's very eyes he could see it putting itself back together, its cracked face staring blankly back into the spiraling void from whence it came.

Knowing that this was his chance he wasted no time as he set off for his destination – the nurse's office. The same thought playing like a broken record as the Amalgamation observed the mouse scurry away...

' _Cheater…cheater…cheater…cheater…cheater…cheater…cheater…cheater…he cheats. Not fair…unfair...tricking me…with a chair. Not fun…at all…he runs…I fall.'_

It hurt, truly it did. The knowledge that player two cheats.

' _I only wanted to have fun...so please don't you run. You're all I have...my only friend. You make me feel…alive again. You make me happy…you make me sad. I love you…I hate you. My logic fails to comprehend. I want to be with you…I can't live without you. So I'll bring you to an unfortunate end.'_

' _An arm here…a face there…a little bit of me everywhere'_

Little by little, piece by piece, the Amalgamation put itself back together. It already looking forward to once again meeting its most _unfortunate_ friend.

-x-

Naruto had finally gotten around to properly dressing his wounds after riffling through the nurse's office and was now staring at a tourniquet that he held in his hand. It was a latex one that the nurse often used when administering shots. Completely unassuming in any capacity the only reason he had even bothered to pick it up was due to the conclusion he had arrived to in regards to how Death's Breath operated.

He had initially considered its tracking ability as omnipotence or something along those lines but the fact that he had even managed to survive any of the incidents thus far lent credence that this was not the case. Its traps were blind as they littered his path, they knew where he was but not what he was doing or where he was headed. With his intelligence he held a distinct advantage in this game of cat and mouse…at least until the Amalgamation was created and the rules of the game changed.

However it was undeniable that the Amalgamation too was powered by Death's Breath and as such likely had the same ability to track him as well. This meant that no matter where he hid the Amalgamation would soon show up to finish what it had started. The only way to truly win was by completely circumventing death's ability to track him. However to do so he had to understand _how_ it was tracking him in the first place.

Omnipotence was out. Sensory perception was also out as inanimate objects were deprived of any of the five senses to begin with. Rather he was fairly confident it had something to do with the initial appearance of Death's Breath. As such he had narrowed it down to two likely candidates…

The [Heavenly Tribulation] negative perk and the Death Mark currently imprinted upon his left hand.

These two along with the debuff that reduced his stats were the only things that he could think of that had a direct affect to his person ever since the commencement of mission 3.

[The Almighty] (debuff) was out as his low luck couldn't be solely responsible for the uncanny ability that the Death's Breath possessed in tracking him down. Which left the other two as the likeliest candidates. As such he had analyzed the factors available to him to draw a conclusion from. This being the provided description of both and the time he was afflicted with them.

[Heavenly Tribulation] while appearing significant initially due to its description of; **'Death is permanent and the heavens conspire against you'** , if one analyses it carefully they can determine that it is in reality a mere safety net.

Fact is it doesn't really apply to humans at all. What it merely expresses is that supernatural entities that can come back from death or are immortal permanently die and that beings that are part of the heavenly realm, gods probably, can't draw aid from there. Observing it from this standpoint it makes the negative perk completely inconsequential to him.

This left the likeliest candidate of all…the Death Mark.

Its description read; **'You have been branded by death, despair all who hold the mark as death will soon follow'**. Initially he had dismissed this as nothing more than something that signified his rite of challenge. However when he looked into the deeper meaning behind it the possibility that it could be tied with death's tracking ability became undeniable. Specifically the portion that said, **'despair all who hold the mark as death will soon follow'** hinted towards the tracking ability Death's Breath seemed to possess.

However this could be dismissed as sheer coincidence as it might have just been referring to the fact that challenging death was in a sense suicide. However there were two other points that caused him to believe otherwise.

Firstly the Death Mark had imprinted itself upon the commencement of Mission 3 and preceded the descent of Death's Breath. Second and most importantly…the mark had a timer perfectly synchronized with how much time he had to survive.

 **Death Mark (5h 2min)** **\- You have been branded by death, despair all who hold the mark as death will soon follow.**

Having determined the true purpose of the Death Mark the problem now wasn't the mechanics behind such a thing, but rather how to get rid of it. The thoughts that came to mind weren't pleasant...

The Death Mark was directly imprinted onto his hand and even if he went through his initial thought of submerging his hand in cleaning chemicals not only would it take a long time to burn his skin off but it also didn't guarantee the complete removal of the Death Mark.

The fact that the Death Mark wasn't a negative perk and was solely tied to his left hand however presented an opportunity. One that would help him overcome his current situation if he could properly take advantage of it.

His left hand like most of his limbs had little feeling in it due to the debuff and having come upon the tourniquet earlier gave him an idea. One that as apprehensive as he was in carrying out seemed likely the only viable solution that would ultimately see him survive the next five hours.

He was already exhausted and if things kept going as they were he wouldn't survive another hour, unless…the school had recently added a woodworking course hadn't they? It was part of the straight to work initiative the school had started that implemented several skill oriented courses that provided benefits that could be immediately carried over to the workforce. He remembered reading about how certain courses could carry over as electives when they went to university on an email he received at the beginning of the term.

If so then he already knew what he needed to do in order to win mission three, it was now simply a matter of having the nerve to actually go through with it. The reason for this was simple.

In order to win mission three all Naruto had to do…was cut off his own hand.

-x-

* * *

 **Author's Notes:**

I'm too scared to continue writing so I'll stop here for now. On a lighter note school started for me and most of my day is spent on campus so frequency of updates will probably drop.

Yeah, when I say Smart Naruto I usually mean it. Personality wise remember he is seventeen and raised in an entirely different setting – modern, has parents, isn't isolated from his peers, etc. He's impulsive, headstrong, and courageous like in cannon. He can be a little childish at times but this is not a defining trait of his personality. He still has his never give up attitude though, even if he really, REALLY, wants to give up he's not the type to just roll over and die. He loves ramen.

As for the hand…holy shit. I would never want to have to be put in a situation that I have deliberately cut off my own hand (or any part of my body) to live. I'm so glad I'm not in his shoes.

Also if I say AU I mean it. Alternate Universe means things are different, I hope I made that sufficiently clear. If you want a better picture of what the Amalgamation looks like simply search mannequin monster on a search engine – you'll get some hits. The one for Silent Hill is quite similar to what I pictured the Amalgamation to look like minus some slight differences that is apparent in my descriptions.

My summary is so deceptive, it's still completely true though. Naruto is doing his best to advance the plot. :P

* * *

-x-

 **Chapter Notes: Flavor Text (Character Bio)**

 **Amalgamation – A perversion of life, animated by Death's Breath it holds no soul and exists in the absence of death. Born to claim the life of Naruto Uzumaki it holds no other purpose.**

 **Skillset:**

 **Touch of Death (Blessing of Primordial Death) – Instant Death upon contact**

 **The Art of Making Dolls – Can turn organic life into [Possessed Mannequins]**

 **Null – Can neutralize all non-physical attacks**

 **Dismember – Dismembers target**

 **Deathless – Cannot die**

 **?**

 **Bio:**

 **Seeks fulfillment by carrying out its purpose in hunting down Naruto yet lets him escape every time due to its own desire to prolong the experience. Harbors no ill-will and simply desires to attain fulfillment. Has the intellect and emotional frailty of a child. Loves to play with Naruto. Favorite game is hide and seek, even if it isn't very good at it. Identifies as female.**

 **Could have killed Naruto** **137** **times. Spotted Naruto in hide and seek** **13** **times.**


End file.
